Zimbabweans blamed for inflation

Zimbabwe’s central bank chief said today that ordinary Zimbabweans were to blame for the country’s crippling inflation.

State-owned newspaper 'The Sunday Mail' quoted Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono as saying inflation was due to what he called a “collective failure as a nation” to produce enough, particularly food.

He called on Zimbabweans “to actively play a part in producing for the nation”.

Zimbabwe’s inflation rate is officially 231 million percent, the highest in the world.

Government orders to seize white-owned farms starting in 2000 disrupted the economy of what had been the region’s breadbasket.

The farms were to have gone to poor black people, but many were given to Robert Mugabe’s party loyalists. Agriculture production has plummeted.