s luxuries whose customs duty should be paid for in foreign currency.
People are now expected to pay 60 percent of the total price of their clothing imports plus US$10 for every kilogramme as duty.
Flea market traders who relied on importing clothes for resale on the local market have since complained that government has forced them out of business through the new regulations.
But Zimbabwe Clothing Manufacturers Association’s chairperson Jeremy Youmans hailed the move saying it will protect the local clothing industry from stiff competition it was facing from “sub-economic goods being imported into the country”.
He however painted a gloomy picture on the formal sector’s capacity to deliver in the short term when he bemoaned ” a multiplicity of problems” currently bedevilling the textile sector.
Major challenges include shortage of fabric and foreign currency to import material,intermittent power supplies and coal shortages, he said.
“Price controls have also affected us badly as big chain stores are not buying our products at the moment.They are complaining about poor mark-up prices”,Youmans said.
He said the sector was currently operating at between 45 and 55 percent capacity utilisation-CAJ News.
Post published in: News