Several firms and shops in Zimbabwe face prosecution after they breached price ceilings imposed by a state pricing watchdog, a state daily reported on Monday.
”We are aware of some manufacturers and service providers who are contravening the pricing regulations,” the government mouthpiece Herald quoted Goodwills Masimirembwa, chairperson of the national incomes and pricing commission, as saying.
”So the commission has listed them and has since provided police with the information for them to take action.”
Among companies that flouted the pricing regulations were bakers, dairies, beverage makers, transporters and medical insurance companies, he said.
Nearly five years ago, Zimbabwean authorities introduced price controls on commonly used goods as part of a series of measures to rein in runaway inflation, which currently stands at about 8 000%, according to official figures.
President Robert Mugabe’s government last June ordered businesses to halve the prices of their goods and services, claiming some businesses were colluding with the veteran ruler’s foes in the West to plot his downfall.
Mugabe (83) has been in power since the nation’s independence in 1980.
The government deployed teams from the security forces and the price-monitoring commission to ensure compliance leading to the arrest of nearly 12 000 business executives.
Retailers and manufacturers, grappling to cope with the high rate of inflation, had been raising their prices several times a day.
Manufacturers complained that the government-imposed prices meant they are unable to cover their costs. — AFP
