Zimbabwe to issue statement on three-tier pricing as Delta starts charging in US dollars

The Minister of Industry and Commerce Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu is to issue a statement on three-tier pricing, the Ministry of Information said today without giving further details.

Ndlovu is also the acting minister of Information.

Monica Mutsvangwa is on leave until 5 January.

The statement comes amid news that the country’s largest beverage maker Delta will only accept foreign currency, mainly United States dollars, from 4 January.

In a letter to its customers today Delta said it had decided to charge US dollars because its business has been adversely affected by foreign currency shortages resulting in the company failing to meet its orders.

“The new fiscal and monetary policy framework in place since October 2018 does not provide for easy access to foreign currency by non-exporters,” the company said.

“The company has only received limited foreign currency allocations from the banking channels which have not been adequate to fund the import requirements.

“Resultantly all our foreign suppliers are unable to continue providing credit or meet new orders as some of them have not been paid for extended periods.”

Delta said it had invested US$600 million since 2009 so there was need to protect this investment.

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