Government said yesterday that it will direct retailers to
reduce prices of basic commodities to where they were before the volatile
foreign exchange crisis experienced last week.
A sharp rise in the exchange rate was witnessed between
Wednesday and Friday when US$1 was selling for ZW$24 from ZW$13 triggering a
new wave of price hike madness. The exchange rate had by Saturday plummeted to US$1: ZW$15 but retailers are
yet to reduce prices to levels before the volatile crisis.
In an interview, Industry and Commerce Minister Cde
Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu said Government will direct retailers to revert to
prices before the volatile crisis.
Retailers claim they peg prices against the US dollar but
in the past have not reduced prices even when the exchange rate had dropped as
is the case now.
Prices for products such as mealie-meal rose from $27 to
$48, cooking oil from $28 to $40, bread from $6,90 to $9 and 2kg of sugar from
$17,22 to 23,90 following the sharp increase in the exchange rate.
“Prices went up when exchange rate went up but the exchange
rate in the parallel market has dropped hence we expect prices to also come
down. It’s mainly the retailers who are fuelling this. I’ve been trying to get
in touch with their representatives but they are nowhere to be seen. We will
direct the retailers to reduce prices to levels before the volatile crisis,”
said Minister Ndlovu.
He said the issue of speculative pricing needs the
intervention of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Minister Ndlovu said he will be engaging the RBZ on the two
tier pricing system where commodities are slightly cheaper for those buying
using cash compared to those using plastic money.
“For instance a bag of cement is selling for between $120
and $130 for those with cash and the price is up to $180 for swipe or EcoCash,”
he said.
Cash is very scarce in the market yet illegal money
changers are seen with wads of new notes, raising suspicion that they are being
supplied by banks. Herald
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