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Hyperinflation

Money losing value so fast that prices are reset within a single day and savings in the national currency simply disappear.

How to read the number

Almost always the consequence of financing a budget deficit by issuance: trust in the money goes, its velocity rises, and that accelerates prices further.

When the metric lies

It does not fade gradually — it ends with a change of regime: a new currency, a peg to a foreign one, or a fiscal reform. History offers no smooth return to normal.

Also known as: hyperinflationary spiral

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