Worst currency performers named

A RECENT survey has singled out Angola and Zimbabwe as the two neighbouring states with the worst performance in currency exchange rate against the US dollar. At end-February 2002 the Angolan kwanza was 31.57/US$1, and 107.5% worse at the end of this February - at 65.53/US$1. Zimbabwe was logged at 55 dollars to the US$ at the end of last February - but is a horrendous 1 354.5% up this year, at Z$800/US$1. But inflation is dropping in Angola and rising in Zimbabwe. The average for Angola in 2002 was 109.32%, but slipped back to 104.36% this January. Zimbabwe, however, had a 2002 inflation rate of 134.53%, but jumped to 208.10% at the end of January.