A survey by radio VOP revealed that business people have taken
advantage of the new currency to double prices. The prices only appear cheap
in numerical terms yet exorbitant in real terms.
A two-litre bottle of cooking oil went up to $120 in new currency,
which is $1,2 trillion in old currency. A two-kilogramme packet of sugar is
now selling at an average of $50 from $25, a loaf of bread is now $25 that
is $250 billion in old currency from an average of $15.
Comfort Muchekeza, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe’s spokesperson for
the Southern region bemoaned the price madness and urged the government to
crackdown on businesses to restore sanity and put a stop to the unilateral
price hikes.
President Robert Mugabe last week warned that his government might
have to declare a state of emergency in order to contain an economic crisis
that has seen prices rise on a daily basis while inflation has shot to 2.2
million percent, the highest in the world.
Meanwhile the chairperson of the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission (NIPC) Goodwills Masimirembwa said he would be holding a meeting
with the business sector on Monday, to warn them against profiteering.
Radio VOP
Post published in: News