Govt concerned by pricing indiscipline
THE Government has expressed concern over the pace of price increases in the market and has challenged retailers and wholesalers to also consider the plight of consumers in their quest for profit.
Formal businesses have been hiking prices rapidly as the domestic currency weakens, but it has emerged some of the margins of adjustments are unjustifiable.
Prices in Zimbabwe usually track the obtaining exchange rate and the majority of businesses use the open market instead of the official exchange rate.
On Friday, the Zimbabwe dollar traded at $16 270/US$1 officially while the parallel market rate was changing hands for between $18 000 and $20 000 to the greenback.
The Government has been rolling out a coterie of measures to steady the exchange rate and curtail inflation, which has met with limited success.
President Mnangagwa said earlier last month the Government was working to introduce a structured currency (asset or instrument-linked money) to address the challenges.
Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sithembiso Nyoni, in a statement read on her behalf by her deputy Raj Modi at the official opening of Edgars Complex in Bulawayo last week, said the Government was disturbed by the pace at which prices were increasing in the market.
She said the rapid prices were negatively impacting the consumer’s cost of living.
“The Government is concerned about acts of indiscipline being perpetrated by some among us and calls on members of the business community to maintain discipline in pricing our goods fairly and remitting our taxes to support revenue generation by the Government.
“Allow me at this juncture to challenge both retailers and wholesalers to advance the interests of consumers ahead of profiteering. After all, we are all consumers and no one is spared. I, therefore, implore your sector to engage in responsible behaviour in the market,” said Minister Nyoni.
Unfair price hikes lead to adverse customer experiences, loss of consumer spending and unnecessary rise in consumer cost of living.
Minister Nyoni said her Ministry has been on a drive to ensure organised commerce, working closely with both established retail chain stores and upcoming commercial entities to achieve the same.
The Government has been making efforts to promote ethical business conduct by both established firms and SMEs in its efforts to grow and play a meaningful role in the economy.
The local business operating environment has not been without challenges, which Minister Nyoni said the Government was aware of and doing all it can to bring normalcy in the marketplace.
“We are aware that the formal retail sector has witnessed its fair share of challenges, including price escalations, exchange rate instability, power outages and subdued consumer demand.
“Some of these interventions include a tight monetary policy intended to curb inflation that the Government is implementing and the commissioning of Hwange Unit 7 and 8 to increase power generation,” she said.
National Consumer Rights Association (NACORA) spokesperson Effie Ncube said the price increases were putting ordinary Zimbabweans in a tight spot and perpetuating poverty.
“The majority of people in Zimbabwe earn Zimbabwean dollars, and the skyrocketing exchange rates are affecting them, this is worsened by businesses that are only accepting the USD which is making life tough for them,” said Ncube.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), the month-on-month inflation rate stood at 6,6 percent in January followed by 5,4 percent in February 2024.
The Year on year-on-year inflation rate for February 2024 as measured by the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 47,6 percent.
The food poverty line (FPL) for one person in February 2024 was $432 454, 90 this is out of the range of basic needs from transport costs, utility payments, and health bills.
The FPL indicates the amount of money an individual needed to buy food in February and it increased by 178,4 percent over the January 2024 figure of $155 360,39.