Harare residents can't quench their thirst

Harare residents can't quench their thirst

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• UN warns 2,4 million pople need food aid

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By Staff Reporter

AFTER shortages of cooking oil, maize, milk, toothpaste and soap, Harare has now run out of soft drinks, reports said at the weekend.

Cheap sugared drinks are a popular beverage among many city residents.

Most supermarkets and food outlets in the Zimbabwean capital had run out of the drinks, according to reports

Some shops have gone for two weeks without deliveries from the country's main drinks manufacturer, Delta Beverages.

An official from Delta Beverages blamed Zimbabwe's critical lack of foreign currency for the shortages, which are also affecting alcoholic drinks. He said the company was unable to import the raw materials needed for production of the drinks.

"The country is currently experiencing a shortage of foreign currency and this has had a negative impact on all businesses that require raw materials including ourselves," said the official.

Shortages of basic goods like maize, cooking oil and milk resurfaced after parliamentary elections in March, which were won by President Robert Mugabe's ruling party.

The government says some of the shortages are artificially created, but manufacturers blame the lack of foreign currency.

Zimbabwe's scarce foreign currency reserves are tightly controlled, and importers must bid for their hard currency needs using an auction system.

Because there is not enough hard currency to satisfy demand, many importers say they return empty-handed from the auctions. They say they are then forced to buy foreign currency on the parallel market, where prices are three times higher. - Sapa-dpa
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