Govt makes dual pricing at auction rate mandatory
HARARE- Government, has with immediate effect, instructed all businesses to effect a dual pricing system, indicating that failure to do that will result in the business being penalised.
Businesses are expected to quote local prices at the ruling exchange rate of the day.
According to the Government Gazette’s Statutory Instrument 185 of 2020, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has, in terms of section 2 of the Exchange Control Act decreed that businesses use the auction exchange rate for its p ricing.
“The President made the following regulations amended by the insertion of the following section after section 6— “Dual pricing and displaying, quoting and offering of prices for goods and services 7.
“Any person who provides goods or services in Zimbabwe shall display, quote or offer the price for such goods or services in both Zimbabwe dollar and foreign currency at the ruling exchange rate,” it said.
Failure to display the prescriptive measure will result in a civil penalty imposed on the offender.
“Any person who contravenes shall be liable to civil penalty if the contravention is completed but irremediable or civil penalty if the contravention is a continuing one.”
Truworths Zimbabwe chief executive officer and the chairman of the Retail Association of Zimbabwe Temba Ndebele said retailers have already complied with the instrument.
“Our prices are already at the auction rate. The big issue for all the major retailers is that the software can’t print or display dual pricing. It means that would have to be done manually and that’s costly and unproductive,” said Ndebele.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive Christopher Mugaga said he was heavily opposed to the move because not everyone is accessing foreign currency at the auction market.
“It’s a preposterous move and it is wrong. It’s nonsensical because not everyone is accessing foreign currency at the auction market. The auction market is disrupted every day and you cannot say we should rely on it. It needs to be tested for the next months until the end.
“It’s a wrong move and we are going to vehemently oppose it because like I said it’s a preposterous move,” said Mugaga.
The country has been battling price hikes since the re-introduction of the Zimbabwe dollar in October 2018 after a 10 year absence. The majority of prices are pegged at black market rates.ONLINE
