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Business Editor

FINANCE and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has announced the development of a ‘National Price Index’ to guide all public sector institutions on the price ceilings in the various procurement categories.

The intervention is part of Government measures to mainstream the ‘value for money’ drive, which was adopted in August last year with the aim of plugging out loopholes in the existing public procurement systems.

“Treasury and PRAZ (Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe) has developed a national price index to guide all public sector institutions on the price ceilings in the various procurement categories,” said Prof Ncube in a statement on Friday.

“To date, three categories have been issued relating to hotels and conferencing facilities, groceries and office provisions and stationery products and paper raw materials.”

In this regard, under the value-for-money exercise, he directed ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to mainstream due diligence processes aimed at plugging loopholes in the procurement arena.

Following the ministry’s public communication on the blacklisting of companies involved in illegal activities in the black market, Prof Ncube said Zimra is now conducting tax audits and assessments, checking for the full tax compliance of all large transactions.

…more to follow