Opinion / Columnist
Please disengage from panic mode
26 Sep 2017 at 15:46hrs | Views
(This article is based on an observation made by Vivean Taremba Kabade on Saturday the 23rd of September 2017)
A tour around major supermarkets in Harare yesterday (23 Sept 2017) indicated that while some prices increased by a few cents, most basic commodity prices remained unchanged. Price hikes were experienced in small shops those that are run by local traders, which saw prices of almost everything increase by 50% (including goods produced locally). My advice to the public is to disengage from the panic mode we had all engaged in, and try to avoid doing our shopping in the informal sector (down town) where tuckshops and small wholesales operate and try to do our shopping in big supermarkets for now.
One thing we should all know is that people usually did their shopping down town because the prices where low as compared to big supermarkets. This gave rise to the black market as those traders only accept cash payments hence flooding the black market with bond notes in exchange for USD so that they can go to S.A, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana where they buy their goods. This market which l would like to call the informal sector runs parallel to the formal sector which gets forex allocation from RBZ.
Some banks also fuel the blackmarket as they believe it's a quick and easy way of getting forex. On 22/09/17 bond notes flooded the black market which resulted in a hike in forex exchange rates. This hike in exchange rates had a ripple effect on commodity prices in the informal sector while the parallel formal sector remained stable because they do not rely on the black market for forex. If things remain u changed we might see the black market and informal sector chocking out as money will begin circulating in the formal sector.
Please note prices can change at anytime in the formal sector due to several reasons. This conclusion was solely based on an observation made on Saturday the 23rd of Sept 2017
A tour around major supermarkets in Harare yesterday (23 Sept 2017) indicated that while some prices increased by a few cents, most basic commodity prices remained unchanged. Price hikes were experienced in small shops those that are run by local traders, which saw prices of almost everything increase by 50% (including goods produced locally). My advice to the public is to disengage from the panic mode we had all engaged in, and try to avoid doing our shopping in the informal sector (down town) where tuckshops and small wholesales operate and try to do our shopping in big supermarkets for now.
One thing we should all know is that people usually did their shopping down town because the prices where low as compared to big supermarkets. This gave rise to the black market as those traders only accept cash payments hence flooding the black market with bond notes in exchange for USD so that they can go to S.A, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana where they buy their goods. This market which l would like to call the informal sector runs parallel to the formal sector which gets forex allocation from RBZ.
Some banks also fuel the blackmarket as they believe it's a quick and easy way of getting forex. On 22/09/17 bond notes flooded the black market which resulted in a hike in forex exchange rates. This hike in exchange rates had a ripple effect on commodity prices in the informal sector while the parallel formal sector remained stable because they do not rely on the black market for forex. If things remain u changed we might see the black market and informal sector chocking out as money will begin circulating in the formal sector.
Please note prices can change at anytime in the formal sector due to several reasons. This conclusion was solely based on an observation made on Saturday the 23rd of Sept 2017
Source - Vincent Taremba
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