The root of the problem is that government spends much more money than it takes in in tax revenues, and it prints money effectively. And they try to control the supply. They require exporters to surrender a huge portion of their proceeds to the reserve bank at the official rate. It completely destroys the confidence tha ordinaries and barbians have in their own currency, which is why it's ly inflating away.
The Kremlin’s propaganda machine ensures that Russians have a much different view of the war in Ukraine than the rest of the world. Our correspondent spent a day immersed in Russian media, to learn what people there see—and what they don’t. The spectre of hyperinflation is once again stalking Zimbabwe. And our obituaries editor remembers a man who refused to let Japan forget its painful past.
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