Zimbabwe Reappoints Central Bank Chief Despite Hyperinflation

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has renewed the tenure of his country’s Central Bank governor Gideon Gono, during whose tenure in office Zimbabwe’s runaway inflation spiralled into the world's highest ever. Gono’s new mandate will see him at the helm until November 2013. Fueled by an intractable political crisis and crippling foreign exchange and dire fuel shortages, Zimbabwe’s current inflation rate stands at over 200 million per cent, and most Zimbabweans live below the poverty line. This year alone, the Central Bank introduced 24 new currency denominations, including a one-million-dollar note. President Mugabe’s regime however claims the country's grave economic situation is a direct result of sanctions imposed by Britain and its Western allies. [PE]