Bread price shoots by 300 percent (25-06-07)

he latest increase last week, the price of bread was pegged at Z$12 000 but as of Monday this week, the price of bread had drastically risen to a whopping Z$50 0000, an increase of more than 300 percent within a week.

Zimbabwe’s economist, Eric Bloc could not immediately comment on the latest price increase of bread, but consumers have blamed both the inflation and the Zanu PF government for implenting solutions that are “not practical”.

Zimbabwe’s inflation has reached above 20 000 percent this year alone, and the out going United States of America (USA) ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, strongly believe the hyper-inflation would reach world record 1, 500 000 percent.

Dell believes the latest economic climate would be enough to drive president Mugabe out of office before the next presidential election in March 2008.

Dell, who described the Zimbabwean inflation as catastrophic argues would be a pushing factor for Mugabe to leave office in the next six months.

Over 3. 500 000 Zimbabweans citizen are believed to be living in South Africa escaping abject poverty whilst others are political victims.

“The latest bread price increase would force all the low income workers to compeletely abandone bread. Some of us have since replaced bread with sweet potatoes every morning.

“As that is not enough, I pay monthly sum of Z$300 000 per room, pay over Z$120 000 electricity bills and my two children need a daily average of Z$240 000 for transport to and from school whilst my salary is Z$1.3 million,” said 47-year Shadreck Juwayeyi, a Chitungwiza resident, some 30 kilometres east of Harare.

Juwayeyi commits every morning from Chitungwiza to the capital where he works as a manager at a local shoe company-CAJ News.