MINES minister Walter Chidhakwa says Zimbabwe will not attract the much needed foreign direct investment if its pricing regime is not revised.
Zimbabwe is one of the highest priced nations in the region with its people being highly taxed.
The recent 100 percent increase in tollgate fees by government, resulted in the rise of the cost of logistics impacting on the pricing structures for a lots of commodities and services in the country.
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Walter Muzembi is also on record saying the country’s pricing regime (high) was hindering the growth of his sector.
Speaking at the official launch of the Competitiveness Report (ZNCR) produced by the National Economic Consultative Forum in Harare last week, minister Chidhakwa said Zimbabwe was not going to achieve economic growth if its pricing regime remains where it is.
He appealed to vice President Emerson Mnangangwa (who was the guest) to help raise alarm and ensure that the issue is dealt with as a matter of urgency.
 “We live in a world that produces goods and services and those goods and services are priced somewhere else not in Zimbabwe,” said Chidhakwa.
“And, therefore, because we are not price givers to the world but price takers, the only way we can make money and sustain our selves as a nation is if we reduce the cost of production and the only way we can reduce the cost of production is if we can make every facet of our life competitive as we do our business.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) last month said prices should go down by 45 percent for local industries to become competitive, after an appreciating greenback slowed exports and threatened to escalate a severely deteriorating economic crisis.
The central bank, advised that the price reduction should not only target goods but even services, including interest rates, utility and labour costs and raw materials.
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