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Harare: Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans lined up at banks on Sunday, desperate to take out their money after the government raised the limit on daily withdrawals.
New rules went into affect on Sunday allowing withdrawals of up to 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars (Dh1,277). The old 1,000 Zimbabwean-dollar limit was barely enough to buy a newspaper.
The limit and the fact that Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world - officially at 11 million per cent, unofficially much higher - has meant long lines at banks most days.
But Sunday was extraordinary, with lines resembling crowds at a soccer match. Mothers with babies strapped to their backs arrived at bank doors at dawn. Police vainly tried to stop the crowds from blocking traffic - but there appeared to be more police and uniformed soldiers in the lines than on duty.
Greeting the crowd
President Robert Mugabe, meanwhile, returned from a 10-day trip to the United Nations, greeted by a large crowd of singing, dancing well-wishers at the airport.
Looking fit even at 84, Mugabe waved to the crowd and made a brief statement.
"We will be setting up a government by the end of this week," he promised, warning US ambassador James McGee, an outspoken critic of Mugabe's, to stop "interfering" in domestic matters.
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai said Saturday that a new power-sharing government must be formed within days to avert a humanitarian crisis.
A power sharing deal signed by Mugabe and his longtime rivals in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has been stalled during Mugabe's absence.
Key posts
The two sides have been unable to agree which party would control key Cabinet posts, among them the finance ministry. The stalemate has meant more delay in tackling the country's worsening economic and humanitarian crisis, with industry and agriculture collapsing and millions threatened by hunger.
Lovemore Matombo, head of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, said if politicians did not take action soon to ease the suffering of workers "we will go onto the streets."
He called for the limit on bank withdrawals to be removed altogether, but central bank officials say that could spark a run on banks that would ultimately worsen the cash shortages.
On Saturday, central bank governor Gideon Gono vowed to keep printing money, a practice critics say has fuelled inflation.
Under the power-sharing deal, Mugabe's party gets 15 Cabinet seats and 16 go to Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition and a smaller breakaway opposition group led by Arthur Mutamabara.
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