News / National
Bread price talks on the cards
29 Apr 2019 at 02:19hrs | Views
THE Government will this week meet with bakers and millers to discuss the recent increase in bread prices which it feels is unfair and unjustified and map a way forward to come up with an affordable price for consumers.
Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Vangelis Haritatos confirmed the development on Friday. He said Government will be meeting bakers this coming week to solve the issue of bread price which is now beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans.
"As Government we believe in engagement and so in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce we intend to meet with the representatives of the National Association Bakers of Zimbabwe to bring in their bakers so that we can talk openly to see why they had to increase their price and what the Government can do to reduce the price," he said
He said the aim of the meeting is to reduce the bread price that has risen drastically to provide an affordable price for the consumers.
"Hopefully, we will come to an agreement to drop the bread price so that we have on the market a price that's affordable to the public which also allows the bakers to make a profit to ensure that consumers are not over-burdened," he said.
Deputy Minister Haritatos said the bread price increase was unfair and unjustified.
"We feel that the bread price increase was unjustified, We did announce new producer prices but remember we are giving 38,5 percent discount to our millers, which means the price of flour does go up but the increase should not between RTGS$3 and RTGS$3,50 like they are doing. The proper price of bread should be between RTGS$2 and RTGS$2,50 at this stage given the fact that we know the input costs of bread," he added.
Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Vangelis Haritatos confirmed the development on Friday. He said Government will be meeting bakers this coming week to solve the issue of bread price which is now beyond the reach of many Zimbabweans.
"As Government we believe in engagement and so in conjunction with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce we intend to meet with the representatives of the National Association Bakers of Zimbabwe to bring in their bakers so that we can talk openly to see why they had to increase their price and what the Government can do to reduce the price," he said
"Hopefully, we will come to an agreement to drop the bread price so that we have on the market a price that's affordable to the public which also allows the bakers to make a profit to ensure that consumers are not over-burdened," he said.
Deputy Minister Haritatos said the bread price increase was unfair and unjustified.
"We feel that the bread price increase was unjustified, We did announce new producer prices but remember we are giving 38,5 percent discount to our millers, which means the price of flour does go up but the increase should not between RTGS$3 and RTGS$3,50 like they are doing. The proper price of bread should be between RTGS$2 and RTGS$2,50 at this stage given the fact that we know the input costs of bread," he added.
Source - newsday
