Bulawayo– Raj Modi, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, has come under fire after it emerged that his Bulawayo based liquor hub store was demanding US dollars only.
Zimbabweans accused the Minister of double standards as government recently threatened a clamp down on businesses charging in US dollars saying its illegal.
Government’s position is that US dollars and Bond notes are at par, hence pricing should be equal.
“Just yesterday, he was seated next to the SMEs minister at a meeting in Bulawayo urging people to report retailers who charged in USD or inflated prices to the Ministry of Industry as it monitors prices. What hogwash,” city journalist @lulubrendafarqhaur said on twitter.
“Its high time workers demand salaries,” said another user.
The Deputy Minister took to micro blogging site twitter, to explain that the US dollar price only applied to imported beer to enable the joint to restock.
He said, “I would like to inform my valued clients that only alcoholic drinks bought in USD are being sold in USD to allow us to restock. Our suppliers want USD, nothing else. For all other goods, liquor hub accepts any form of payment .Bond notes and plastic money are legal tender.”
A survey by this publication confirmed that other goods were sold in all form of tender in the multi-currency basket.
The bond note has been tumbling in value on the parallel market, with premiums souring as high as 300 percent.
This development has caused many businesses which rely on imports to either close shop or demand US dollars only .
As the US$ continues to be elusive an the liquidity crunch deepens, economic experts have advised government to dollarize or join the rand monetary union or risk having a repeat of the 2008 crisis.
