Zimbabwe’s long lines and rations

Austin Mushanguri shakes his head in dejection and walks away from the fridges in an affluent supermarket in Zimbabwe’s capital after reading a sign saying he can only buy one bottle of beer instead of the dozen he’d hoped for.

Similar scenes are playing out across the southern African nation, where foreignexchange shortages and austerity measures have left consumers facing long lines for everything from fuel to bread and sugar, and sent prices soaring.

It’s the latest challenge to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s new Government, which is trying to rebuild an economy wrecked by the misrule of Robert Mugabe.

“How do they expect me to queue in the shops over 12 times to buy a single bottle of this beer?” Mushanguri, 41, asked. “This not what we voted for, this is not what we expected after elections.”

Zimbabweans were optimistic about an economic revival when the military ousted Mugabe in November. That’s going to take time and will “entail pain and the need for sacrificing short-term gains for longer-term prosperity,” according to Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, who Mnangagwa appointed last month to attract foreign investment, reduce mass unemployment and narrow a gaping financial deficit.

Ncube introduced a tax increase on money transfers to try and stabilise the Government’s finances. The announcement triggered a rise in basic-commodity prices, stoking fears of an inflationary spiral and leading to long queues forming at service stations. Many shops, under pressure from the Government, are restricting customers’ purchases to prevent hoarding and ensure everyone gets something.

The country’s quasicurrency, bond notes, have plunged in value. Bond notes were introduced two years ago and were meant to represent the value of one dollar.

John Robertson, an economist in Harare, says: “It’s all about the lack of confidence in the Government’s ability to resolve problems. People easily panic. It’s become a psychological problem rather than one of economic sense.”