Cricket: Fistful of inflated dollars

The harsh economic realities of life in Zimbabwe should have hit home to the Black Caps when they received their tour allowances on Wednesday.

Instantly the players became multi-millionaires, pocketing ZWD$32,000,000 for their troubles.

They might be cash-rich but the millions aren't going to get the cricketers far in the real world.

The ZWD$32m equates to about $2700, although Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation renders exact equations impossible.

Inflation is not new to this troubled nation. In the final months of 2003, Zimbabwe was experiencing year-on-year inflation of up to 630 per cent.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk by close to 50 per cent over the past five years.

In its latest press release regarding Zimbabwe, the IMF projected that: "On the basis of present policies, the budget deficit will increase markedly in 2005, partly due to the cost of higher food imports, interest payments and higher pension costs... these deficits would fuel a sharp increase in money supply, and hence inflation, by end-2005."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY