Protests Erupt As Zimbabwe Now Has The Most Expensive Gasoline In The World

[Swordsmyth]

Zimbabwe is once again at the brink of economic collapse, making a mockery of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s claim that the country is open for business.
As Bloomberg reports, many shops and factories have shut their doors because of a lack of customers and those that continue to trade are open to haggling over prices to secure hard currency. At an appliance shop in the capital, Harare, a salesman whispers that a Whirlpool Corp. washing machine priced at about $5,000 if paid for electronically will sell for $1,500 in cash, while at a nearby electrical warehouse, a $600 invoice is whittled down to $145 for payment in dollar bills.
But, as OilPrice.com's Tsvetana Paraskova reports, Zimbabwe is on a three-day nationwide strike and protests are erupting in the streets after the government of the southern African country doubled fuel prices, making gasoline sold in Zimbabwe the most expensive gasoline in the world.

Zimbabwe is in the midst of an economic crisis and a shortage of foreign exchange, which has led to fuel and bread shortages, and many companies have stopped working because they can’t import raw materials.
Following hyperinflation in 2009, Zimbabwe abolished its own currency and has been using the U.S. dollar and South African rand instead.
But the economic crisis and foreign currency shortages has prompted the government to say over the weekend that it would introduce a new currency of its own in the next 12 months.
However, the policy that really sparked protests and calls for a national stay-away was the sharp increase of fuel prices over the weekend.
According to Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa - who succeeded the president of 38 years Robert Mugabe in November 2017 - the doubling of the fuel prices would help ease fuel shortages.
In a post on his official Facebook page, Mnangagwa wrote on Sunday:

“Following the current shortfall in the fuel market, we have chosen to act, and act decisively. The shortage, attributable to increased fuel usage in the growing economy, and compounded by rampant illegal currency and fuel trading activities, is unsustainable and Government has today decided on the following measures:

• A fuel pump price set at $3.11 per litre for diesel, and $3.33 per litre for petrol.”

The gasoline price of $3.33 per liter is now the world’s highest.
According to data from GlobalPetrolprices.com, as of January 7, 2019, the world’s average gasoline price was $1.08 per liter, or $4.09 per gallon. The most expensive gasoline in the world before the Zimbabwean price hike was in Hong Kong where a gallon of gas goes for $7.71.

In Zimbabwe, the trade unions and the main confederation of industries called for the three-day strike and say it has been a success so far.

“So far the stay-away has been effective,” Peter Mutasa, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told Bloomberg on the phone.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries said in a letter to the Industry Ministry that “The house is burning,” as many businesses are collapsing or on the verge of collapsing due to the lack of foreign exchange funds and economic chaos.
According to Bloomberg, here’s what Zimbabweans have to deal with on a daily basis:

• The official inflation rate stands at 31 percent, well short of 2008 levels but still high enough to drive consumers to the black market or import their own food and other basics.
  
• Goods paid for electronically cost as much as four-and-a-half times more than if cash were used. Retailers have resorted to a dual-pricing policy and offering cash discounts, defying the government’s threats to act against them.
  
• Supermarkets have stopped selling a number of goods and stock outages of everything from bread to coffee are commonplace. Zimvine, a Facebook group, is being used to request and share information on where to find food, fuel and other goods and how to contact lawyers specializing in immigration.
  
• The head of Zimbabwe’s main industry body has warned that many companies that continue operating will shut this month due to the currency shortage.
  
• The city authority in Harare has scaled back refuse removal and other services because it can’t access diesel for its trucks.
  
• Doctors staged a six-week strike to demand improved working conditions and that their salaries be paid in cash. While the labor action was called off on Jan. 10, it could take months to clear operation backlogs.
  
• Teachers and other state workers have warned that they’ll down tools unless the government pays them in cash.

No yellow vests? Maybe they can't afford them?



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...gasoline-world

[Bern]

I don't understand the issue with the banking system there that is causing the whole country to demand cash. Anyone have a handle on it?

[RonZeplin]

I don't understand the issue with the banking system there that is causing the whole country to demand cash. Anyone have a handle on it?

As far as i can tell, by the time you get your digital transaction money out of a Zimbabe bank it's worth maybe 1/4 the value of the transaction. At least that seems to be the retailer and consumer sentiment.

[dannno]

Sounds like somebody needs some bitcoin.

[Swordsmyth]

Protests and strikes are continuing in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare amid rumors that authorities are disconnecting phone and internet networks, The South African reported Jan. 15.

More at: https://worldview.stratfor.com/situa...tests-continue

[Swordsmyth]

Zimbabwe imposed a "total shutdown" of the internet on Friday, a major provider told customers, after protests early this week triggered a ruthless security crackdown.The internet had been partially restored after a first shutdown started on Tuesday.
"We were served with another directive for total shutdown of the internet until further notice," Econet, the country's biggest provider, said in a text message on Friday.
"Our lawyers advised we are required to comply with the directive pending the court decision on its legality. The earlier directive(s) are already the subject of pending high court application.
"We sincerely apologise for all inconveniences caused by the acts of government."
The EU on Thursday joined the US and Britain in criticising the authorities' response to the protests.
"The escalation of violence in Zimbabwe over recent days has been aggravated by the disproportionate use of force by security personnel," European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said in a statement.
"The shutdown of access to the internet should also be reversed."
The US embassy in Harare it was "alarmed by credible reports that security forces are targeting and beating political activists and labor leaders".

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/total-interne...115856620.html

[Swordsmyth]

Zimbabwe police have charged the leader of the country's largest labor union with subverting the constitutional government. The lawyer for Japhet Moyo, the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said he has been charged with subversion for his role in organizing last week's national strike that the government said degenerated into riots.

Zimbabwe's High Court has ordered Zimbabwe's government to restore full internet to the country. The court ruled that the government's shutdown of the internet was illegal because the Minister of State for Security, who ordered the internet closure, does not have powers to issue such a directive. The court said only President Emmerson Mnangagwa has the authority to make such an order. Zimbabwe's government closed the internet for much of last week. Over the weekend it restored partial internet, but kept a blackout on social media apps like Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter.

Zimbabwe's capital is returning to normal Monday, after a week of turmoil in which Zimbabweans protested dramatic fuel price hikes and government security forces launched a crackdown in which 12 people were killed.
Most shops and businesses have reopened, although many people are stocking up on food items in case the country faces further unrest.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to return to the country late Monday, after announcing Sunday that he will skip attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He is in Kazakhstan, after visiting Russia last week.
Mnangagwa had been under growing pressure to return from a two-week overseas visit as accounts emerged of abuses by security forces, including dozens of people wounded by gunfire and others hunted down in their homes and severely beaten. Zimbabwe has seen days of unrest since Mnangagwa made an announcement more than doubling fuel prices that made the struggling country's gasoline the most expensive in the world.
Indicating the severity of Zimbabwe's economic problems, South Africa confirmed that it turned down Mnangagwa's request for a loan of $1.2 billion recently. "We just don't have that kind of money," South African treasury spokesman Jabulani Sikhakhane told the broadcaster, eNCA.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/latest-zimbab...130142513.html

[Swordsmyth]

A crackdown last week on protests in Zimbabwe is a foretaste of how the government will respond to future unrest, the president's spokesman was quoted saying on Sunday, fuelling concerns that the southern African country is reverting to authoritarian rule.Police say three people died during demonstrations that turned violent in the capital Harare and second city Bulawayo. But human rights groups say evidence suggests at least a dozen were killed, scores were treated for gunshot wounds and hundreds were detained.
"(The) government will not stand by while such narrow interests play out so violently," President Emmerson Mnangagwa's spokesman George Charamba told the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper. "The response so far is just a foretaste of things to come."

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/zimbabwe-crac...172335833.html