Those who retired a decade ago -- when US$1 bought 7 Zimbabwe dollars instead of 5,300 today -- have seen the value of their pensions decline at least twentyfold. Food stores sell a single eggs to those who can't afford a carton -- for about 1,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US$0.20), or one-fifth of average daily income here.
A women's tennis club in Harare has begun delivering free meals to impoverished pensioners.
One of the beneficiaries of the project shot himself this year.
He had worked for 40 years worked for the government, planning public works projects.
"After a long working life, he couldn't go on. His pride was hurt," said a family friend who asked not to identified.
Other countries, like Argentina, which have experienced hyperinflation have brought prices down through fiscal discipline and devaluation, Robinson said.
But Zimbabwe remains deep in the hole. It has been US$290 million in arrears to the IMF since 2001 and risks being expelled next year. The government has offered to pay US$1.5 million a month.
Bride price, a custom in traditional African marriages, has soared to millions of Zimbabwe dollars in cash and gifts.
A driver with a Harare legal firm paid Z$1,000 to his bride's parents soon after independence from Britain in 1980 -- a considerable sum then.
``She gets angry when I say today she is only worth four slices of bread,'' he said.
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