A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Zimbabwe's central bank on Friday outlawed one of the last functioning parts of the country's ravaged financial system, hampering businesses already brought to the brink of collapse by rapidly worsening hyperinflation.

Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and a close ally of President Robert Mugabe, suspended electronic transfers between banks on the grounds that they were "being used for illicit foreign exchange deals" and to charge excessive prices for goods and services. "We have no option but to take this drastic measure in order to maintain sanity in the financial system," Mr Gono was quoted as telling state radio.

With cash scarce and card payments cumbersome, businesses have relied on transfers between bank accounts to settle transactions with suppliers and receive payments from customers. The transfers take a day to be completed, making them far preferable to cheques, which require a minimum of five days to clear - by which time their value has plummeted.

If the regime of Robert Mugabe purposely wanted to annihilate Zimbabwe, it could not do a better job than it is currently doing. His incompetence, and that of his supporters, is nothing short of staggering.