Zimbabweans rush to the stock market as local currency burns

Two speakers, invited businessmen, made their presentations, each exhorting members of the faith to “invest on the stock market.”

“I am now filthy rich,” said one of the speakers. “My money sweats for me. I'm not worried about inflation.”
The audience is mesmerised; there's no doubt this man is rich; the car he has parked outside is a magnificent automobile - a pricey and flawless Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

He says with each passing day, he has seen his wealth “parked on the stock exchange” increasing, rather than depleting.

“Don't spend that little money on tomatoes because you have nothing else to do with it and fear that it will be eroded by inflation - go buy shares and see how your money starts overtaking inflation,” he said.

While Zimbabwe's economy is burning, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) is boisterously surging ahead, undeterred by the economic crisis besetting the country.

After opening the year at 1 953 577 751,56 points, the ZSE's key industrial index swelled to a high of 38 069 792 109 133,20 points at the close of the first half of the year on June 30, 2008.

The mining index, which opened trade at 2 414 924 070,47 points at the start of the year, romped to a record high of 45 067 538 391 404,00 points at the close of the first six months of the current year.

For its part, Zimbabwe's nine-year recession has spawned the largest number of poor people. Estimates by economists suggest 80% of the country's population lives in abject poverty, and structural unemployment is also estimated at 80%.

But the irony of the crisis is that many are finding rich pickings from the rioting stock market. Commentators say a low interest rate regime, together with rampaging inflation, has given impetus to the stock market, which has remained bullish during the country's crisis period.

The low interest rates, put in place primarily to avoid suffocating the government with huge interest on its ballooning domestic debt, have spawned negative returns on the money market, again fuelling a swelling stock market.

Kudakwashe Mupepereki, one of the punters on the country's surging stock market, who invested Z$200m on shares soon after a “prosperity crusade” at his church two months ago, says his investment has surged to Z$12 trillion.

Essentially, Zimbabweans have lost faith in the local currency because of the hyperinflationary environment.
To preserve their wealth, they are buying assets and foreign currency.

Because the prices of immovable properties like land and houses is beyond the reach of many people, they are forced to go to the stock market, investing either directly or through pooled funds held by unit trust companies.

“We're seeing investors from across the board, even from rural areas, coming to the equities market,” said an analyst with Kingdom Stockbrokers. “But it's mostly the middle-class and the rich who are reaping the biggest benefits from the stock market rally of the past five or more years because they have the cash.”