Why prices are going wild?

Zimbabwe has been gripped by the shortage of food stuffs unprecedented price hikes of two hundred percent and fuel drought. Each and every Zimbabwean feels the sharp impact of the economic chaos and self inflicted problems plunging Zimbabwe into an economic jungle.

Low-income earners and already unemployed suffered the most during the panic buying of foodstuff which is on going and causing shortages. food sellers increased prices a few days before and after the election as consumers rushed to stock up due to fears over the outcome of the monetary policy.

The opposition and detractors started to speculate and spreading fear in the market which resulted in the belief that things are going bad. In response to the speculation spreading like wild fire the shop owners started hoarding stuff creating fictitious shortages which pushed the prices up.

"There were supply constraints as trucks kept off the road, leading to shortage of food items. What is 'Panic Buying'

Panic buying is a type of behavior marked by a rapid increase in purchase volume, typically causing the price of a good or security to increase. From a macro perspective, panic buying reduces supply and creates higher demand.

This pushes up inflation and the people will be hard hit.

"After the announcement of the monetary policy there was a frenzy with people rushing to buy food in large quantities. Shortage led to substantial price increases at this time.

After the polls, most people avoid major towns, with suppliers also unwilling to risk their business. Fuel station refuse to sale their fuel with the hope of selling at a very high unsubstantiated priced. In Harare the central business district is congested with queues of fuel seekers causing serious panic buying and hoarding.

the low-income group bore the brunt since they usually purchase in small quantities every day to match their budget constraints.

They do not have fridges but buy in small quantities and, therefore, if what they are seeking is not available or the price is high, they are forced to alter the spending power, This problem now facing Zimbabwe is man made. Most Business people have become greedy and wants to maximize profit.

The opposition jumps in the bandwagon and seek to prove that the government is failing to run the country.

It becomes clear that the problems we are facing now are meant to cause mayhem and trigger people to riot and cause civil strife.

with normalisation of food supply and the advent of rains and the Government's quick response food inflation would ease, leading to a drop in overall inflation. This needs our government to act very fast and arrest this decay.

There are government officials and corrupt individuals who are benefiting from this pain. It then begs a question is this a political game. Playing with people's lives.

Panic buying may result from a number of different events. Generally panic buying occurs from increased demand which causes an increase in price. Adversely, panic selling has the opposite affect resulting in increased supply and a lower price. Conceptually panic buying and selling on a large scale can have dramatic affects leading to market shifts in various scenarios.

Investment trading and a country's economic framework provide two settings for broad market affects from panic buying. Both can be important landscapes for following supply, demand and price inflation. Investment trading will typically see more direct and immediate affects from panic buying. A country's economic framework will also be influenced by panic buying however it would have less of an immediate impact since it causes price fluctuation in goods which are depleted over a longer amount of time from supply backed by inventory.

Our only hope is for the government to flood the market with the goods and upset the greedy blood sucking opportunists who are plying on the poor Zimbabweans.

The situation is not giving our government a good name.

Zimbabwe should expect things to be worse before they get better. As a country we need to work towards progress not tonwork against the centre of our life. In service stations in Harare petrol men tell customers clearly that they will not sell fuel to Pferorists. This shows the opposition is creating a bad name for the government for their own milage.

The cruel idea of persucuting and starving the people to rioting is not patriotic at all. Our country needs people who pool together.

Supply disruptions, which refers to the interruption of normal product supply within supply chains, have been frequently observed around the country. This does not reflect on the government's inability to govern but on the opposition's ability to cause havoc. Disruption could be caused by various reasons, such as natural disasters, labor strikes, terrorist attacks, and changes in govern- ment regulation, in our situation we have terrorists dressed as opposition. Who celebrate as people suffer. Who play politics with the lives of the masses.

Supply disruption is considered as one of the top concerns for supply chain management and the government must take it very seriously. As a result, recent days have observed an increasing amount of sabotage by the opposition and the business people. The government should deal with supply disruptions, via multi-sourcing, supplier certification, and arresting those raising prices in an unreasonable manner.

The government must use the increasing access to information via Internet and TV and make many consumers to receive timely information about disruptive events. But the actual consequences of these disruptive events are often uncertain so strong action has to be taken. If we do not stand up against the thugs rolling our country into the forge of economic confusion. Even the opposition is important to development they must work towards bettering the lives of the people not to punish people by Denying them quality of life.

Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk