This comes as Government has adopted tough monetary policy
measures targeting speculative exchange rate manipulators who were previously
fuelling unjustified black-market volatility that eroded the value of the local
currency.
The prudent monetary policy has been buttressed by an
equally robust fiscal policy which has seen Treasury getting tough on major
Government suppliers and contractors through tightening controls in payments.
Government is putting in place stringent measures to
regulate advance payments for contractors, after some failed to deliver on
their obligations and others indulged in financial speculation on the black
market.
It has also given all ministries, Government departments
and agencies up to today (September 2) to submit due diligence reports on all
contracts that were submitted as at July 31 but whose payments were suspended
after it was noted that the pricing models were based on parallel market rates.
The introduction of gold coins, drastic reduction in the
price of fuel, implementation of a tight monetary policy aided by corresponding
fiscal measures, have combined to tame inflation.
Consequently, in August, month-on-month inflation dropped
to 12.4 percent from 25.6 percent in July in response to corrective
macro-economic policy measures being implemented by the Government, which have
started pushing the cost of living downwards.
The slowdown in inflation is also being buttressed by the
continued decrease in fuel prices as the country strives to contain the cost of
production, especially energy, which has recently been a major factor behind
spiralling prices of basic goods and services.
According to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority
(Zera), the latest price of diesel is US$1.74 per litre from a peak of US$1.88
while petrol is US$1.58 from a peak of US$1.77.
In line with Treasury’s projection that inflation would
continue to drop resulting in restoration of consumer spending power, the
Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (Zimstat) has revealed that the
month-on-month inflation rate has been almost cut by half from the July rate.
The month-on-month inflation rate is calculated from the
percentage change in the index of the relevant month of the current year
compared with the index of the previous month in the current year.
In compiling the Consumer Price Index, ZimStats monitors
price levels of about 495 products categorised according to United Nations
Statistics Division’s Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose
(COICOP).
The price of cooking oil is now ranging from $2 999 to $3
199 depending on the shop, down from the previous $3 999 while a litre of fresh
milk is now costing $899, down from $1 099,99.
A 2-kilogramme packet of sugar has also been reduced to $1
579,99 from $1 749,99 while a kilogramme of salt has remained at $399.
Added to that, the rate of buying United States dollars has
also fallen to $650 per US$1 from $1 000 per US$1 on the streets.
Consumers have welcomed the reduction of prices of basic
commodities saying the Second Republic has been battling to make life easier
for the ordinary person, and a raft of measures that were taken are now paying
dividends.
“We are very happy with the way prices of basic commodities
are going down. It shows that we are going somewhere as a country and I would
like to commend the Government for standing with it’s people and making sure
that all basic goods are affordable to an ordinary person,” said Mr Lloyd
Mangondoza of Mabvuku suburb in Harare.
Mrs Jayne Munatsi echoed the same sentiments saying before
Government’s intervention, prices of basics were spiralling out of control.
“We were getting worried with the way the price of
mealie-meal and cooking oil were increasing but now we are relieved with the
significant decrease which we have witnessed lately. It shows that the supply
is now surpassing demand and we hope that the prices will continue to go down,”
she said.
Another Harare resident, Mrs Lucia Dube said she was also
happy with the stability of prices of basic goods and she hoped that the prices
would continue to fall.
“The reduction in the prices of basic goods shows that our
local currency is gaining strength. I am happy that an ordinary citizen will
not have to worry about buying their groceries at exorbitant and unpredictable
prices.” Herald
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