Zim consumers get some relief

ZTN reporter
As the festive season fever grips Zimbabwe and the rest of the Christian community, there is some relief in the Southern African country as subsidised maize meal and other basic commodities have started finding their way onto supermarket shelves.

Prices of basic commodities, which had skyrocketed beyond the reach of many, are being slashed with a 10 kg bag of roller meal now being sold for ZWL 50 as compared to the ZWL$ 110 Zimbabwean it was going for last week.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa over the weekend explained that the subsidies are meant to cushion consumers from relentless price increases.

Addressing the Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators’ Organisation (ZILIWACO) National Conference in Harare on Saturday the Zimbabwean leader said his administration would continue to provide safety nets for vulnerable members of society.

“One of your grievances raised here was that of price increases. You already know what we have done by reversing the price of mealie-meal. We reversed it on Wednesday and we are going to gazette a Statutory Instrument by Monday (tomorrow) to reduce mealie-meal to $50,” said President Mnangagwa.

“We are now going to fix the price of mealie-meal so that it is affordable to the ordinary people and we pay the difference through the subsidy.

“In addition to that, we have also chosen about seven basic commodities which we are going to subsidise. These are basics used by a traditional family, and we want these basic foods to be cheaper. For example, if a product was selling for $20, you will buy at $12, then Government will pay the remaining $8 so that people can buy at a low price.”