Zimbabwe Prices Surge Over 2% Tax Introduction

Prices surged yesterday, as as business react to the introduction of a 2% tax on money transfer transactions by new Finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, Newsday has reported.

Retailers have warned of further price hikes,a move which will hit consumers hard.

In an interview with Newsday, Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) president Denford Mutashu said tat in light of the new tax rate, suppliers and manufacturers yesterday morning started sending notices to retailers effecting price increases of up to 10%.

Zimbabwe Prices Surge Over 2% Tax Introduction

“So, the citation was on the two cents per dollar tax and obviously, the parallel market rates also went up today (yesterday). This means that further price increases are likely if manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers do not get foreign currency allocations,” Mutashu said.
A snap survey showed that prices of some basic goods at a number of retail shops in Harare’s central business district, which include cooking oil, mealie meal, flour, washing powder and rice, had gone up.