News / National
Price controls the only way to go, says Mutodi
22 Apr 2019 at 17:09hrs | Views
PRICE controls is the only way to go so that business will stop unnecessary price hikes, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Service deputy minister Energy Mutodi has said.
Mutodi said the government must take an urgent measure to stop arbitrary price increases.
"For a country that has no currency of its own, no competitive industry and no jobs, price controls is the way to go in order to protect the poor. It's very unfortunate that Cabinet has not foreseen this but it's time we take necessary,' he said on Twitter.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa warned the business community saying they must not force the government to control prices.
"We do not want to go to a situation where government is forced to regulate prices. I am against the regulation of prices. I would want prices to be regulated by market forces. However, our compatriots in business should have a human face when they are making their profits.
"It's not going to be business for them to make super profits the same day they begin their businesses. I think it is necessary that they have a human face in dealing with the public and communities so that when they make their money they also realise that they are serving the community to which they belong," said Mnangagwa while speaking at Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.
He accused some businesses of being unpatriotic and inhuman.
"However, government is alarmed by the recent wanton and indiscriminate increases of prices which have brought untold suffering to the people. This conduct by stakeholders in business, industry and commerce is inhumane, unethical, and unpatriotic."
On Tuesday after a Cabinet meeting, government pleaded with bakers to revise the prices of bread but the call has not been heeded as bakers point at the costs of importing wheat, a situation which has been worsened by the shortage of the greenback.
Zimbabwe has over the last few months been experiencing intermittent fuel supplies, blamed on foreign currency shortages.
The rise in the cost of fuel will obviously have a negative impact on the economy, bus fares have also increased owing to fuel price increases.
Mutodi said the government must take an urgent measure to stop arbitrary price increases.
"For a country that has no currency of its own, no competitive industry and no jobs, price controls is the way to go in order to protect the poor. It's very unfortunate that Cabinet has not foreseen this but it's time we take necessary,' he said on Twitter.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa warned the business community saying they must not force the government to control prices.
"We do not want to go to a situation where government is forced to regulate prices. I am against the regulation of prices. I would want prices to be regulated by market forces. However, our compatriots in business should have a human face when they are making their profits.
"It's not going to be business for them to make super profits the same day they begin their businesses. I think it is necessary that they have a human face in dealing with the public and communities so that when they make their money they also realise that they are serving the community to which they belong," said Mnangagwa while speaking at Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.
He accused some businesses of being unpatriotic and inhuman.
"However, government is alarmed by the recent wanton and indiscriminate increases of prices which have brought untold suffering to the people. This conduct by stakeholders in business, industry and commerce is inhumane, unethical, and unpatriotic."
On Tuesday after a Cabinet meeting, government pleaded with bakers to revise the prices of bread but the call has not been heeded as bakers point at the costs of importing wheat, a situation which has been worsened by the shortage of the greenback.
Zimbabwe has over the last few months been experiencing intermittent fuel supplies, blamed on foreign currency shortages.
The rise in the cost of fuel will obviously have a negative impact on the economy, bus fares have also increased owing to fuel price increases.
Source - dailynews
