Mnangagwa’s Reality Shock As Basic Commodity Prices Shoot Up
17 December 2017
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By Paul Nyathi | Just when President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been making assurances to the nation that prices of basic commodities and most locally produced products will not be going up, Zimbabweans woke up to a shock weekend on Saturday when most of the basic commodities in the country shot up by between 10% and 15%.

The biggest shock to Zimbabweans was the increase of the price of bread from between 90 cents and $1 to up to $1.20 in some retail outlets.

Giant bread producers Baker’s Inn were the first to announce their price increases of up to 15% on Friday. All the big bakeries increased with the same margin on Saturday without engaging key stakeholders like the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe and the retailers bodies.

The ordinary loaf rose from $0.90c to a $1.00 and the premium loaf went up from $1.00 to anything between $1.10 to $1.20.

In A statement the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers blamed the price increase on raw material suppliers who increased their prices effectively affecting the end users.

“It is unfortunate that retailers bear the brunt of price increases yet most times we simply maintain the ordinary mark-ups after suppliers have raised prices,” the body said.

A snap survey carried out by ZimEye.com in Bulawayo on Sunday morning indicated that there was a somewhat deliberately created shortage of bread to instil the price increase.

Consumers interviewed by ZimEye.com claimed that the increases were a ploy to sabotage newly installed President Emerson Mnangagwa.

“Why are they increasing pieces just two weeks into Mnangagwa’s reign and a day after he warned business against unjustified price increases,” said a Bulawayo consumer.

3 Replies to “Mnangagwa’s Reality Shock As Basic Commodity Prices Shoot Up”

  1. It is the work of CONFIDENCE. When the people have confidence in the government that has a positive or negative impact on prices. the government should hold its nerve and work towards stabilising the economy so people have confidence in it. Sabotage have nothing at all to do with what has happened.

  2. True to what you are saying, the only problem is the way the prices went up, soon after the new government promises price stability; appears like the work of saboteur’s work at play.

  3. The government should not be involved in price controls else the whole of idiotic Mugabenomics will come back. Prices find their own equilibrium and they are always right. The only thing that the government can control is the percent of profits that a trader can make. This will limit the rate of grown as traders decide whether to employ or not based on their profits.

    May sound like the same thing but price controls results in the country increasing its debt and the profit controls result in the country never running a loss, and not going into inflation

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