Zimbabwe’s economic crisis wipes out Christmas cheer

In one shop, a bottle of paracetamol syrup is 3 US dollars in cash, 15 dollars in bond notes — and 17 dollars when using a bank card.

Doctors at state hospitals have been on strike for the past three weeks demanding salaries in US dollars while a group of teachers completed a 200-kilometre (125-mile) walk from the eastern city of Mutare to Harare to demand better pay.

At the ruling ZANU-PF party last week, Mnangagwa admitted the economy “was characterised by fuel shortages, high cost of drugs, medicines (and) wide range of basic commodities.”

He offered little immediate relief, instead blaming “gluttonous” businesses for price rises that “resulted in untold suffering to the majority of our people.”