Retailers have said the suspension of statutory instrument 122 of 2017 will force them to charge prices in foreign currency instead of the local bond notes.
Government suspended the policy, to allow retailers and individuals to import basic commodities at a time when most of the commodities have started disappearing from the shops and some retailers have taken advantage of the crisis to increase prices.
Speaking at the Brand Zimbabwe 2018 Summit in Harare, Wednesday, Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers, president Denford Mutashu its members were not yet decided on how to peg prices of their goods.
“Right now we have suspended Statutory Instrument (SI) 122 of 2017 and we have no idea how are we going to price these imports,” he said.
United Refineries Limited chief executive officer, Busisa Moyo shared the same sentiment, saying retailers will be forced to peg prices in either the United states dollar or South African rand.
“No one in their sane mind can import and sell in bond notes and RTGS,” Moyo said.
“In the next coming days we will witness Zimbabweans being charged in forex because of such policies.”
Meanwhile Mutashu added that trust is an important factor when it comes to policy making.
“The country needs a national shared vision to re-brand rather that a political vision becoming a national shared vision,” said Mutashu.
Mutashu added that there was need for government to consult the public when crafting policies.
“We are so good at policy inconsistence, policy makers seem to announce policies before thorough research on the impact they could have,” he said.
“Policy makers cannot come up with policies and force them on the generality of the people without having them take part in the formation of that policy, otherwise you will have unnecessary resistance from the people”.
He also caused on government to be consistent with its policies.
“When a minister is fired another minister comes with new policies and the old ones that are even good they are thrown away,” said Mutashu.
