Zimbabwe has just $217

It’s our Ghost of Christmas Future in southern Africa:

After paying public workers’ salaries last week, the balance in cash-strapped Zimbabwe’s government public account stood at just $217, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Tuesday.

“Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 (left) in government coffers,” Biti told journalists in the capital Harare, claiming some of them had healthier bank balances than the state.

If that’s in American dollars, they might want to exchange it before the rush.