Out of gas

last updated January 8, 2015

Harare, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s already failing economy entered free-fall this week, as gas stations ran dry and grocery shelves emptied. The crisis began last month, when President Robert Mugabe ordered a price freeze on all food and retail goods, a move he hoped would curb hyperinflation. More than 1,300 shop owners, managers, and company executives were arrested for failing to cut prices, and stores began to run out of wares. Last week, Mugabe decreed a 60 percent cut in the price of gas. Rather than sell at a loss, most gas stations simply closed, and trade has all but stopped. Zimbabwean economist John Robertson is predicting widespread looting. “I think the government will finally unleash the impatience and the anger of our normally agreeable and passive population,” he said.