Mpofu imposes price freeze on all goods, services

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ZIMBABWE ordered a blanket freeze on Thursday on the prices of all goods and services, urging members of the public to blow the whistle on retailers who ignore the latest edict.

Industry Minister Obert Mpofu was quoted by state media as saying that price controls - previously limited to essential goods - would be extended across the board, and that prices could only be raised with government approval.

"The (government's price-monitoring) task force further directs that all other goods and services that were previously neither controlled nor monitored shall with immediate effect be monitored," Mpofu was quoted as saying by state-controlled radio.

In a statement read out on the radio, Mpofu called on shoppers to contact police if any retailer was suspected of either overcharging or stashing goods away.

"All members of the public, with information on issues involving violations and hoarding, should urgently report such information to the nearest police station," said the statement.

The latest directive followed a warning this week from President Robert Mugabe that his government would seize and nationalise businesses caught charging exorbitant prices.

Retailers and manufacturers have been jacking up prices, sometimes more than once a day, as they grapple with the impact of the world's highest inflation rate, which economists believe has surpassed 5 000 percent.

Since the introduction of price controls on selected goods five years ago, the government has occasionally published the legal price for controlled goods in its official gazette.

Retailers often complain, however, that by the time the new prices are set and announced, they have been overtaken by inflation.

Mpofu announced on Monday that retailers could only charge the gazetted price for goods such as bread or oil as published on June 19, but the order was widely ignored. - Sapa-AFP

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