When a Bill Is Worth 100 Billion Dollars

The story of Zimbabwe’s all-but-unbelievable hyperinflation has been told in increasingly larger bank notes. As with its predecessors, the bill that entered circulation today, above, was worth far less than it would seem.

In the economic chaos of Zimbabwe, a loaf of bread costs more than $100 billion, as The New York Times noted today. The government itself set the inflation rate above 2.2 million percent over the weekend, though outside experts say it is much higher.

Without question, Zimbabwe is the most inflated economy in the world, with the lead growing every time more money rolls off the presses. The best way to stop inflation is to stop the presses, though that would leave the authorities with empty pockets as well.

The huge number printed on bills today may have something to do with an announcement earlier this month from Harare’s sole supplier of currency paper. Following political pressure at home in Germany, Giesecke & Devrient cut ties with Harare after decades of business. Until the government secures another source of paper, the central bank seems likely to keep pumping as much money as it can fit on a dwindling supply.