Zimbabwe is an economic bind, compounded by a lack of foreign currency to support its huge appetite for imports. Local industries are operating at a reduced capacity or have closed down altogether. The banks long ran out of US dollars and have since converted the accounts of locals into "bond notes" - a pseudo-currency purportedly equal in value to the US dollar. Zimbabwe has not had its own currency since it decommissioned its dollar in 2009. Unemployment hovers around 90 percent. Heavily in debt and unable to pay its creditors, Zimbabwe's government has found it increasingly difficult to secure loans from international lenders. Prices of goods have shot up, bread is in short supply. Water is being rationed to just five bottles of 500ml per person. Cooking oil has hit the roof at R139 for a two-litre bottle - more than four times the cost in South Africa.
'Shops shut doors as Zimbabwe financial crisis deepens', The Independent
