-owned National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, NOCZIM, ruinous economic policies and deteriorating diplomatic relations with key countries and international institutions.
Now the situation has dramatically deteriorated. A 5 litre of gallon of fuel is now retailing for almost a million Zimbabwean dollars. The price of fuel has been trekking the rate of the US$ against the hapless Zimbabwe dollar, which crushed last week to a record $200,000 against the greenback.
Public transport is now unaffordable. A 5-10 km trip in a kombi now costs $40,000. The increase in fuel prices has also caused a domino effect across all sectors of the economy, fuelling the hyperinflation spiral.
The shortages have also impacted on production figures in industry.
In addition, the spectre of increased company closures, unemployment, soaring inflation and low production in remaining manufacturing sectors, where many companies are operating at less than 20 percent capacity, has put great pressure on the Zanu (PF) government as it promises to implement a turnaround programme.
According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry, the manufacturing sector is down 7 percent with hundreds of companies having closed shop since July 2000. The unemployment rate is at 80 percent and year-on-year inflation has topped 6,000 percent – the highest in the world.