Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr Mike Bimha has assured the country that bread prices will be back to normal by tomorrow (Tuesday) adding that they are working flat out to address price escalations on other products.
Addressing the media in Harare on Monday, Bimha said bread prices are expected to be back to normal 90 cents for standard loaf and one dollar for family loaf.
“We held a meeting today to dialogue on the recent bread price hikes with various stakeholders and agreed that the bakers will revert back to the old price with effect from tomorrow the 19th of December 2017,
“The National Competitive Commission will immediately engage with the bakers to facilitate swift resolutions and challenges faced by the industry,
“The ministry is appealing to all players in the value chain to be part of the solution,” said Bimha.
He added that his office is working flat out to address price escalations of other products on the market. Recently prices of basic commodities have gone up and this had begun to cause anxiety in the country especially now that there is a new administration which had raised the hopes of a new dawn.
“My ministry is also working on the price escalations of other products and similar consultations are continuing,” he said.
Executive Director of Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, Rosemary Siyachitema bemoaned what she said was an assurance on the price of bread with other products still to be deliberated on.
“For other prices there hasn’t been any assurance but for this particular meeting the prices of bread are going to go back to the usual price,
“The ministry has undertaken that other prices will be discussed to see what is happening,
“People do not consume bread alone, so as consumers we will have another meeting like this to see the reason behind the price hikes,” said Siyachitema.
She further encouraged people to buy groceries at wholesales as the price will be lower than buying in the supermarkets as it will be a difficult year.
“It’s going to be difficult year even though bread has gone down, there are few other things that have gone up,
“We are urging consumers that if they have friends and relatives to pull resources together and buying groceries at wholesale supermarkets or to even buy a beast and share, it will be much cheaper than what is going on the supermarkets,
“We are looking forward to having other meetings like today to analyze what is happening in the market,” added Siyachitema.
