Middle East & Africa | Heiferinflation

Why a Zimbabwean firm offers pensions denominated in cows

Ruminants are inflation-proof

|SELOUS

KELVIN CHAMUNORWA’S mother was a middle manager at a bank in Zimbabwe. She worked there for 25 years, steadily contributing to a pension. But horrendous inflation, which reached an annual rate of 231,000,000% in mid-2008, wiped out her savings. When she retired, her pension was so small it was barely worth collecting.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Heiferinflation”

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