GOVERNMENT says it is rolling out several initiatives to ensure price and exchange rate stability.
Rising prices of basic commodities and exchange rate instabilities dominated Senate debate this Thursday, with Senators querying what the government is doing to arrest the situation.
Responding to the questions, Leader of the Government Business, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, who is also the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, highlighted measures instituted by the government to rectify the situation.
“As a government, we have adopted the multi-currency system so that we try to curb the issue of hyperinflation. The government set up a committee to investigate manufacturers on what is causing inflation and the findings are that there are some retailers who are rejecting the Zimbabwe Dollar yet it is a legal tender. After that, the government took some measures of scrapping import duty on 14 commodities. The measure is meant to bring stability to the country. There are some people who think that when we are going towards election want to increase prices so that they turn against the government,” she said.
Recently, the government removed restrictions on the importation of basic goods as part of price stabilisation measures.
With the production of wheat now in motion, the government has assured farmers of adequate electricity.
“From May until August, we have increased power generation to more than 500 megawatts so that our farmers will not be affected. But as am talking right now more than 800 megawatts have been generated. We have also told farmers to venture into clusters so that in case of power outages they can be assisted,” noted the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Honourable Zhemu Soda.
The issue of non-performing Independent Power Producers also came up for debate, with the government saying it will not hesitate to cancel operating licences.
Source: zbcnews
In other news- VP Chiwenga in Switzerland for the World Health Assembly
VICE President General Retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, has arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, ahead of the 76th Session of the World Health Assembly which kicks off on Sunday.
Vice President Chiwenga is also expected to hold several meetings with key stakeholders in the global health sector and share notes with other health ministers from the 194-member countries that make up the assembly. Learn more