We have observed that the prices are going up both in United States dollar terms and in Zimbabwean dollar terms. It has also been observed that a lot of these people are turning down the Zimbabwean dollar which is a legal tender, which means if you have United States dollars or any other currency or the Zimbabwean dollar you should be allowed to buy. They also found out that in large supermarkets, certain food stuffs were no longer available on the shelfs but at corner shops and informal retail shops such goods were readily available.
You may know that two weeks ago, the Government took some measures and you may also be aware that these people are taking advantage of these goods that they are manufacturing in Zimbabwe yet they refuse to accept the Zimbabwean dollar when they have used the Zimbabwean money in manufacturing them. There are also some big shops that are importing goods and are charging exorbitant prices. So, the 14 commodity products such as sugar, mealie meal and cooking oil had duties payable on those items suspended so as to ensure that the lives of the Zimbabwean people become easier. It means that these items are now exempted from duty and a lot of these items have increased in terms of availability so that the people that are increasing the prices will find it difficult to increase the prices. So, these are some of the commodities that were put in that bracket.
The monetary sector, that is the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and also the RBZ, are also looking into the issue of this exchange rate so that there is stability. People are taking advantage of that. It is important for us to know that there are some people who misbehave, the naughty ones, who believe that every time when we go to elections, they must strangle the people of Zimbabwe so that they think that their Government is not important as well as their country. As a result of that, the Government has also taken up several measures like looking into the auction floor to see if those that are getting money from those people are using the money that they are getting for the intended purpose so that they go into the shops and find out how people are being taken advantage of and what is the justification of increasing the prices of such goods.
They are not only going to end there; the Ministry of Industry and Commerce teams as we speak, are on the ground in urban areas, in the shops to find out the weight of the commodities that are being sold. The 2kg sugar pack may not weigh 2kgs and mealie meal, if it were to be weighed, you would find that a packet written 10kgs may not actually be 10kgs.
The Government suspended 15% to those that will have sold those commodities in United States dollars. All these measures are being taken to control this price madness so that prices become affordable. The Government will stop at nothing to ensure that the lives of the Zimbabwean people becomes comfortable by taking all the necessary measures. The Government is constantly saying that we have sufficient maize but there are certain shops that were limiting the quantities that customers would buy, for example a single packet per customer. The Government is looking into such issues. It is also looking into the issue of the Silo Foods through the Grain Marketing Board so that mealie meal is sold at a lower price.
There are a lot of things that are being done, but I urge this august House that whenever you hear Government giving you feedback in the Cabinet, you should also listen to these Cabinet briefs so that you are in a position to explain all these important measures that the Government is making as regards taming the exchange rate and the price increase. I thank you.
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