The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers has warned the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe that unless it resolves the issue of foreign payment bottlenecks, food shortages were likely to return. This comes as the retailers are purchasing foreign currency on the black market and paying premiums of between 10-35 percent. Speaking at a meeting, Denford Mutashu, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers.
The problem is very soon we will be unable to supply certain imported lines because the cash premiums are just unsustainable. You will find that they (cash premiums) range from 10 percent to as high as 35 percent,
CZR Marketing and Stakeholder Relations Director, Alois Burutsa added:
Payments have not been going through fast enough for both the manufacturing and retailing sectors. We are afraid that shortages challenges have started to creep in driven by this.
RBZ governor John Mangudya said that the central bank would ensure that the situation did not worsen. Said Mangudya
Naturally, (food shortages) are a possible outcome. However we have put measures in place to ensure that payments go through, albeit slowly, but go through all the same,
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