Quirky World: When trillions don’t cover the bus fare home

ZIMBABWE: Harare resident Alice Mhandara spent a US dollar to take the bus into town to answer the government call to trade in her old Zimbabwe dollars, but she left the bank in disgust when her 90 trillion in old currency wouldn’t even cover the bus ticket home.

Starting this week, Zimbabweans started trading in their stashes of the defunct local dollars for US dollars as part of a process to phase out a currency that hasn’t been used since 2009 and features bills with at least 12 zeros. But few have taken them up on their offer.

“I used a dollar just to get into town. I will need another dollar to return home. Tell me, where will I get that dollar when they are offering me 36 cents for 90 trillion [Zimbabwe] dollars?” she asked.