In 2007, the Zimbabwe government in its attempt to solve it's rising national debt, decided that the best approach was to increase the supply of money without any significant economic output and export. The resultant effect was that her currency became so devalued that people were using wheelbarrows full of cash to buy just a loaf of bread!
I wouldn't go into all the economic dynamism on why printing of too much money leads to inflation; considering the low attention span of this generation. You can do more research about that on your own spare time.
However, what I'd like to point-out is that all the steps and choices that led to the financial crisis in Zimbabwe, are presently being repeated in Nigeria. Although the prices of goods and services in this country have always been on the increase, but nothing like what we are currently experiencing; which has become incredibly worrisome especially in the last six months.
Hyperinflation is a situation whereby the rate of inflation grows at more than 50% a month. As at the time of writing this article, the price for a custard rubber of garri is 1,200 naira! 48 hours ago it was 1,000 naira; and a month ago it was 800 naira. That's more than 40 percent increase in the price of garri within a space of 30 days!
Just recently, the Edo State government accused the federal government of printing money to offset the deficit in the monthly allocation shared among States. As usual, those allegations were swept under the carpet without any proper investigation by the legislature.
Based on current economic stats, if nothing is done to check the rate of inflation in this country, I'm afraid it would only be a matter of time before we start purchasing a rubber of garri for 10,000 naira.
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