200805151324 | Zimbabwe to import basic groceries

Zimbabwe to import basic groceries

Harare - President Robert Mugabe's government has suspended import duty imposed on basic groceries being brought into the country, in a bid to ease critical shortages in the country's nearly empty shops.

Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told the state-controlled daily Herald on Wednesday that for the next 90 days, individuals would be able to import items including cooking oil, rice, margarine, flour, soap, salt, washing powder, toothpaste and petroleum jelly.

He said goods could only be brought in "for personal use". Shelves in Zimbabwe's supermarkets and stores have been severely depleted for the last year, which economists say is a result of rigid price controls imposed by the government, forcing retailers to sell at prices less than it cost them to procure or manufacture the goods. A continuing slump in foreign currency has aggravated the shortages.

The Zimbabwe dollar, which at independence held parity with British sterling, is now worth Zim$220m to the US dollar.

Cash remains a sought-after commodity

Shopping centres are characterised by winding queues for bread outside supermarkets and for cash outside banks. Despite issuing a new Zim$250m note two weeks ago, cash remains a sought-after commodity.

"It is necessary to ensure constant supply of imported basic goods that have been augmenting local supplies," Ndlovu said.

He said the arrangement was an "interim" one, because, following recent moves by the central bank to float the Zimbabwe dollar, the government expected an increase in foreign currency supplies. He blamed the shortages on "illegal Western sanctions" which he said had starved local industries of imported inputs and spares.

Analysts point out that the only sanctions in place against Zimbabwe are those imposed by Western governments in protest against the regime's human rights record, and which restrict about 200 senior ruling party officials from visiting or banking their money in the US, Britain, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Blame for the country's catastrophic economic crash is attributed to Mugabe's economic blundering, including the lawless seizure of white-owned farms which was followed by destruction of the country's agriculture-based economy. - Sapa-dpa