Zimbabwe says: No salary? Sorry about that

An icy wind swept across Zimbabwe this week pushing temperatures down dramatically but not the temperaments of ordinary people as we approach the second month-end in a country which has run out of money. There is no sign at all that the cash situation has improved in the country despite a month in which almost everyone’s been forced to use debit cards, do bank transactions or simply go without. Nor is there any sign that our government have got a plan on the way forward; in fact quite the opposite. A week ago the Ministry of Finance put out a notice to all civil servants of whom there are thought to be around 200,000 but may well be many more than that. The notice said that “on account of cash flow challenges,” they “propose the following Pay Dates for the month of June 2016 which allow for the mobilization of the requisite resources.” More...