Zimbabwe

The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign, which began in 2000, caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. The ruling ZANU-PF party used fraud and intimidation to win a two-thirds majority in the March 2005 parliamentary election, allowing it to amend the constitution at will and recreate the Senate, which had been abolished in the late 1980s. In April 2005, Harare embarked on Operation Restore Order, ostensibly an urban rationalization program, which resulted in the destruction of the homes or businesses of 700,000 mostly poor supporters of the opposition. President MUGABE in June 2007 instituted price controls on all basic commodities causing panic buying and leaving store shelves empty for months. General elections held in March 2008 contained irregularities but still amounted to a censure of the ZANU-PF-led government with the opposition winning a majority of seats in parliament. MDC opposition leader Morgan TSVANGIRAI won the most votes in the presidential polls, but not enough to win outright. In the lead up to a run-off election in late June 2008, considerable violence enacted against opposition party members led to the withdrawal of TSVANGIRAI from the ballot. Extensive evidence of vote tampering and ballot-box stuffing resulted in international condemnation of the process. Difficult negotiations over a power-sharing government, in which MUGABE remained president and TSVANGIRAI became prime minister, were finally settled in February 2009, although the leaders have yet failed to agree upon many key outstanding governmental issues.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: (N/A)
 * Central bank discount rate: NA% (31 December 2009)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2009 )
 * Stock of money (M1): $NA (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1995
 * Hyperinflation: 2006-2009
 * Years in inflation: 40% (share of years 1965-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
 * Public default: 1965-1974, 2000-2009 (external), 2006 (domestic)

Links

 * Zimbabwe on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Zimbabwe
 * BBC country profile
 * Zimbabwe economy teeters on brink, CNN, May 2003
 * Zimbabwe's 'highest ever inflation' (video), BBC, December 2008
 * Zimbabwe abandons its currency, BBC, January 2009
 * Zimbabwe - gold for bread (video) by Martha Fernandes, James Gilchrist and Guy Grandjean (2nd video), February 2009
 * Scores of Zimbabwe farms 'seized', BBC, February 2009
 * Zimbabwe: A Fresh Start by Alf Field, November 2009
 * Privatise the elephant (video) by David Hannan, February 2010
 * Welcome to Zimbabwe by Doug French, April 2010
 * Zimbabwe's white farmers plan to seize government property by Peta Thornycroft and Sebastien Berger, March 2010
 * RBZ teeters on the brink of collapse by Constantine Chimakure, January 2010
 * RBZ urges gold-backed Zim dollar, New Zimbabwe, May 2011
 * A choice of currency leads to a choice for security by Neil Reynolds, August 2011
 * Multiple Currencies and Gresham’s Law in Zimbabwe by Finbar Feehan-Fitzgerald, January 2015