When you hear someone say, "I've even spent all my money," you're sure to suspect that they're lying.
If a Zimbabwean states so, then what he says must be true.
It is no exaggeration to say that everyone here goes out to spend according to the weight of the goods.
Everyone is a billionaire and doesn't give a damn about money.
It sounds like a lot of people might think that the country is very wealthy, but that's not the case.
Zimbabwe's people struggle with extreme poverty every day, and 90 percent of the country's young people are unable to find work.
Young people rely on cough syrup every day to get by, sometimes drinking four or five bottles a day.
What makes Zimbabwe so mysterious?
What is it about "cough syrup" that is so mysterious that fascinates local youth?
A currency that has no real value.
Zimbabwe, a country located in southeastern Africa, is blessed with abundant natural resources.
As we all know, resources can be converted into money, which leads to a better life. In Zimbabwe, however, the opposite is true.
In this place, money is useless, it can be said that it is just a pile of waste paper.
Due to the severe inflation problem, the currency has depreciated one after another, resulting in money becoming worthless.
In China, 30,000 yuan can do a lot of things, but in Zimbabwe it is only enough to take a bus once.
In Zimbabwe, the original price of a few dollars a bottle of Coke** has soared to 5 million, and it takes even trillions to buy an egg.
When going out, people always carry a bag full of money, and some even need to use a small cart to load it.
A large sum of money seems to be only enough to buy a small number of items.
Going out with a large sum of money may only be enough to buy a roll of toilet paper.
In this case, many people would rather spend their money on paper than use it to buy paper.
You might as well use this free time to buy something more practical.
In 2004, Zimbabwe's inflation rate reached a staggering 624 per cent.
However, by 2008.
Zimbabwe's inflation rate has climbed sharply, reaching 23.1 billion, and even soared to a frightening 80 billion percent at the end of the year.
In this inflationary situation, the currency depreciates rapidly, and it is possible that what is purchased today will cost hundreds of times more money tomorrow.
As a result, supermarkets are often one of the most frequented places in Zimbabwe, as the goods here are relatively more practical.
A crowd of people poured into the supermarket and rushed in as soon as it opened.
They buy things in a hurry, take the money out haphazardly, and don't even bother to take care of it, and for them those banknotes are as worthless as a pile of waste paper.
On the land of Zimbabwe, it is common to see scattered 10,000 yuan banknotes.
In the eyes of local residents, there is almost no difference between these banknotes and waste paper.
Out of a lot of money to spend, one is nothing.
Soon you will face the problem of changing and distinguishing the real from the fake, which is also something to consider when spending money.
Soon, everyone realized that this was not a problem at all, and that it didn't matter if it was true or not.
Who would go to great lengths to amass a lot of money, only to end up with a small thing in exchange?
When it came to change, it was a bit difficult at first, but then we solved it neatly.
There are countless bundles of banknotes, and it is too time-consuming to count them one by one.
Local residents came up with a simple solution to weigh them.
Put the money on the scale, exchange it according to the weight, and get close.
It's really fast, and it's a lot easier for everyone to shop.
Merchants can even skip the step of weighing, as long as the purchase amount is high enough.
You can simply estimate the height visually, just compare it a little, and a little more or less will not have much of an impact.
This bizarre way of spending money is truly unprecedented, and it is even more incredible that the face value of Zimbabwean banknotes is getting higher and higher.
In August 2009, Zimbabwe issued a banknote with a face value of 100 trillion yuan, which shocked people.
Under this terrible inflationary development situation, Zimbabwe's economic situation is deteriorating day by day, and even ** has become helpless.
The country is already so poor that there is only money left, so it's no wonder.
Zimbabwe had its glory days before this situation.
The prosperity and glory of the past.
Before Zimbabwe's economy fell into the "money is worthless" dilemma, it was not so bleak.
In Africa, it is a rich country second only to South Africa, enjoying the reputation of "bread basket" and "breadbasket of Africa", on the contrary.
In 1982, Zimbabwe's per capita GDP was as high as $1,100.
At that time, they relied on rich land, a pleasant climate, and industrious working people.
On this land, various crops such as cotton, corn, and wheat are cultivated to improve the living standards of the people.
Zimbabwe is not only rich in crops, but also rich in mineral resources, so it is known as the "country that sits on a minecart".
It's no exaggeration to say that all the mineral resources you know about the world can be found in Zimbabwe.
Although the abundant mineral resources have brought a certain boost to economic development.
However, it also aroused the interest of the British colonists.
The British colonists initially began to gradually penetrate the colonies by buying the mining rights of the former king.
This situation has led to a sharp increase in the contradictions between whites and blacks, and the conflict between the two sides has escalated.