The Government has said that firms who only take payment in US dollars for all purchases should immediately cease this illegal activity or risk having their operating permits revoked. The Government continues to consider pricing items only in US dollars to be fully illegal.
Some businesses are pegging prices for some of their products exclusively in US dollars, prejudicing ordinary Zimbabweans.
Notices demanding only US dollars have started appearing on shelves in some major supermarkets and shops across the country, a flagrant disregard of the multicurrency regime law.
Legally, prices can be displayed in either just local currency or in both local currency and US dollars, with the interbank exchange rate plus 10 percent being the only lawful exchange rate allowed.
Customers can offer any currency, again with the same legal exchange rate.
The Government’s clarification of the law follows incorrect interpretations by some traders that they are allowed to charge only in foreign currency since they import their products and do not benefit from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe auction system.
Fielding questions from the media after the weekly Cabinet meeting in Harare last night, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube clarified the position and law in terms of pricing.
