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Zimbabwe is in a period of hyperinflation. At the time of independence in
1980, one Zimbabwean dollar was worth US$1.50. Since then, rampant inflation
and the collapse of the economy have severely devalued the currency.
In the August 2006 currency reform, 1 new dollar was exchanged for 1,000 old
dollars. The highest denomination was then 1000 new dollars.
Due to continued runaway inflation, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe released
into circulation on December 20, 2007 three high denomination bearer checks,
$250,000, $500,000 and $750,000.
On January 1, 2008, the bank released, for the first time, million dollar
bearer checks, $1,000,000, $5,000,000 and $10,000,000.
On April 4, 2008, the bank introduced $25,000,000 and $50,000,000 bearer
checks.
On May 6, 2008, the bank put into circulation $100,000,000 and
$250,000,000 bearer checks.
On May 15, 2008, the bank introduced a new $500 million bearer check, and
special agricultural checks in $5 billion, $25 billion and
$50 billion denominations for farmers.
On July 2, 2008 Zimbabwe dollar traded at about $64 billion to US $1. With
inflation running at over 9 million per cent, two litres of cooking oil and a
bar of soap cost about $66 billion.
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