While speaking to ZBC yesterday, Finance Ministry Secretary George Guvamatanga warned businesses to end black market pricing and said they were working as the government on ensuring that businesses found on the other side of the law are punished, The Herald reports.
Guvamatanga urged businesses to peg the price of goods and services at the official rate determined by the Forex Auction Trading System or risk getting in trouble with the authorities. Said Guvamatanga:
We have shown in the past that if we believe that the misbehaviour is severe we will also respond exactly in the same manner. What we are now expecting is that if you get your money at 82 (exchange rate), then price your goods at 82 and get your normal margin,
Don’t go for a foreign exchange margin, you’re not a bank, you’re not a bureau de change. We are simply saying, go back to your core business. Price your goods and services at the auction rate because that’s where you obtained the money. We are watching, we are monitoring. We watch developments over the next two weeks but if there is no improvement . . . don’t say I didn’t warn you,
In the same interview, Guvamatanga said the economy is performing well for the first time in a decade and even asked people why they were not celebrating electricity availability after making so much noise about electricity shortages last year.
More: Chronicle