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GOVERNMENT has announced that it will soon unveil new interventions which may include broad reforms to the foreign currency auction system to deal with the volatility affecting the local currency.

The weakening of the Zimbabwean dollar has been attributed to speculative behaviour and shortage of hard currency in the market.

The Zimbabwean dollar has lost significant ground to the United States dollar over the last three weeks and this has eroded workers’ salaries.

The situation has been worsened by the rampant indiscipline in the marketplaces. Businesses are once again chasing the black market rates and as such are constantly changing prices. 

Some businesses are now selling selected products exclusively in forex despite Government’s repeated warnings that such conduct is illegal. 

Consumers that do not have forex are now being denied the right to buy some products which are being sold exclusively in forex. There is therefore an urgent need for Government intervention to bring sanity in the marketplace before the situation gets out of control.

The consumers are being squeezed to the wall by businesses that are profiteering from the chaos caused by the indiscipline in the marketplace. 

Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said Government will soon roll out both fiscal and monetary policy interventions to stem further decline of the Zimbabwean dollar. 

Government should also enforce measures to deal with extortionate prices of basic commodities such as mealie-meal as moral suasion seems to have failed.

Businesses have not taken heed of Government’s call for them to refrain from fleecing consumers hence the need to punish errant businesses. Businesses continue to do forward pricing as they chase the black market exchange rates and this is adversely affecting consumers.   

Most basic commodities are now beyond the reach of many consumers because businesses are constantly increasing the prices based on the black market exchange rates.

Workers’ salaries are however, not being reviewed constantly to match the changing prices hence the workers are now demanding to be paid salaries in USD.

Minister Ncube should therefore move in quickly with his intervention measures while businesses on their part should stop forward pricing so that their prices remain affordable to the majority of consumers.

We have said in the past that businesses must be sensitive to the plight of their consumers who give them the business.