Give us this day our daily bread...

Regai Tsunga, ASAP’s Program Manager, offers his observations on the rampant inflation in Zimbabwe, which has now surpassed 1200%.

A standard loaf of bread now costs Z$150,000.00 up from Z$120,000.00 last month!! I can confirm that the same loaf cost Z$85,000.00 (April), Z$60,000.00 (March), Z$45,000.00 (February) and Z$30,000 in January. It's ridiculous to say the least. Bread has now become more of a luxury than a basic need for most Zimbabweans as one would need at least Z$4,500,000.00 a month for a loaf of bread each day.

You may also be interested to know that a kilogram of economy beef now costs $702,000.00 whereas it cost $200,000 in January. A trip by public transport to the city centre from the residential areas now ranges between $50,000.00 and $100,000.00 dollars.

Indications are that the prices are destined to rise significantly now that the price of gas (petrol and diesel) has just shot up from $200,000.00 to between $400,000.00 and $600,000.00 a litre.

Shocking numbers indeed. I guess the printing press at the central bank is on 24hours a day. Our highest denomination is a $100,000.00 bill-not enough for a loaf of bread. You ask how anyone is able to afford to eat? Simple - skip meals. Here, people may opt for what they call 011 or 101 or 001. The three digits per set represent Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. In the case of 011, the person skips breakfast. The 0 represents a skipped meal. Sadly of course not too many people now have decent meals as incomes continue to be eroded by inflation. We remain optimistic.

-Regai

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