Zimbabweans are sleeping overnight outside banks again to get their cash

As long as it takes. (Quartz/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

It’s a terrible moment of déjà vu for Zimbabweans as another currency looms. For the last few days, in the capital Harare, Zimbabweans have begun lining up outside of banks to get hold of what little cash is in circulation before it’s replaced by bond notes as currency—the latest desperate measure by the cash-strapped government.

“I am supposed to be home with my family but here I am spending the night in a bank queue for $50, which I am not guaranteed to get,” Tapiwa Mashingaidze told Quartz. The 33-year-old farmer traveled 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) from Harare, to buy seed and fertilizer, but didn’t make it to the front of the line before the bank closed. So he stayed on the sidewalk, all night, hoping for better luck tomorrow.

Zimbabweans camp overnight to withdraw cash. (Quartz/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Zimbabweans don’t trust the banks, and so will not deposit what money they do have, exacerbating the cash shortage. Some banks have limited the individual withdrawal limit to as little as $20 a day. Still, some would rather get what they can, and then find a spot in the line right afterward and wait for the next day say they can withdraw some more.

“If there was a way to get all my money out, I would do it even for a fee.” Mary Chirandu, 29, said she was lucky enough to get $50 of the $750 still in her account. Chirandu is desperate to get her money before the bond notes are in circulation. Like many others, she’s convinced the new notes will derail the economy even further.

“If there was a way to get all my money out, I would do it even for a fee,” said Chirandu, who is self-employed.

Waiting… (Quartz/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

To ease liquidity shortages, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe plans to print bond notes as currency that are meant to hold the same value as the U.S. dollar, but that has only caused further panic, triggering withdrawals and longer lines. Since the May announcement, the reserve bank has gone on a public education drive to allay fears. What little consolation the campaign brought was undone by uncertainty about who exactly would print the notes.

“The increase of uncertainty over the impact of these bond notes to the Zimbabwean economy and fears we could see a repetition of 2009’s hyperinflation bodes ill for the economy across the board,” said Alisa Strobel, a senior economist at IHS Global Insight, a risk and analysis firm.

Back again. (Quartz/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Zimbabweans have faced a currency crisis since 2009, when spiraling hyperinflation made everyone a billionaire and left the Zimbabwe dollar worthless. The government introduced a multi-currency system using the U.S. dollar, South African rand and most recently Chinese Yuan. But Zimbabweans prefer the dollar’s strength. Dealing in dollars has not made life simpler for Zimbabweans, bringing with it a high cost of living.

There is a lighter side to the bond notes panic, though. Zimbabweans have begun to prefacing anything that is temporary with the word “bond,” reports South African news site News24. So temporary teachers are “bond teachers” and ground soy meat is now known as “bond meat.

Hillary Clinton blames FBI director for election loss

In a conference call with top funders, Clinton blames FBI director for her defeat in US presidential elections.

Clinton said her campaign was winning until FBI director revived her email scandal days before of the election [EPA]

Hillary Clinton has blamed the FBI's decision to revive an investigation into her email accounts for her devastating defeat in the US presidential election.

In a call on Saturday with top campaign donors, Clinton said her campaign was in the lead until FBI director James Comey sent a letter to Congress on October 28 announcing that the FBI had uncovered emails possibly related to its earlier probe into her use of a private server as secretary of state.

The new examination was sparked by an unrelated investigation into former New York Representative Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of her top aides.

US election: How did Hillary Clinton lose?

The surprise announcement by the FBI came after three debates in which president-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, was widely panned for his performance. Clinton told the donors that her campaign was leading by large margins in nearly every battleground state and was tied in Arizona, a traditionally Republican stronghold, until Comey released his letter.

Trump's campaign and Republican supporters seized on the news, even though it was unclear whether Clinton's correspondence was tied up in the probe.

Comey told lawmakers the Sunday before the election that the bureau had found no evidence to warrant criminal charges. His "all clear" message only served to further motivate Trump supporters, Clinton told donors on the call.

In the nine days between Comey's initial statement and his "all clear" announcement, nearly 24 million people cast early ballots. That was roughly 18 percent of the expected total votes for president.

While Clinton accepted some blame of her loss, said donors who listened to her call, she made little mention of the many other factors political analysts saw as driving Trump's victory.

Clinton told her supporters on Saturday that her team had drafted a memo that looked at the changing opinion polls leading up to the election and that the letter from Comey proved to be a turning point. 

The memo prepared by Clinton's campaign, a copy of which was seen by the Reuters news agency, said voters who decided which candidate to support in the last week were more likely to support Trump than Clinton.

"In the end, late breaking developments in the race proved one hurdle too many for us to overcome," the memo concluded.

A spokesperson for the FBI could not immediately be reached for comment.

Democrats have spent much of this week reeling for their loss, with many in the party beginning a process of soul-searching designed to figure out what exactly went wrong. Liberals like Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren say Democrats must embrace a more aggressive economic message — one Clinton largely shied away from during her campaign.

Source: News Agencies