HARARE, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwe government has relaxed controls on importation of basic goods into the country to improve supply and stabilize prices ahead of the festive season, the state-run Herald newspaper reported Monday.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha said the government was also willing to give import licenses to individuals and organizations with free funds to bring in the goods.
Zimbabwe is facing an acute shortage of foreign currency which has resulted in price hikes of some basic commodities as retailers are sourcing hard cash on the parallel market at a premium.
In September, the country experienced a temporary shortage of cooking oil and other basic goods due to panic buying by consumers after social media messages claimed there would be shortages of such commodities due to the ongoing forex shortages.
The availability of such goods has since stabilized but demand for basic commodities usually rise during the festive season.
Bimha said the government wanted to avoid shortages of such goods by licensing more importers.
"What we would want to announce today is that, we want to call upon companies and individuals who have free funds to import basic commodities and my ministry is ready to process permits and licenses to that effect," Bimha said.
The minister said the government was monitoring prices of various commodities and had discovered that many sectors, including brick making, packaging and pharmaceuticals, had hiked prices without any justification.
"What is disturbing, though, is that some of these companies are companies that are getting a lot of support from government," he said.
He warned that the government could withdraw operating licenses for companies that had unjustifiably hiked prices.
A cabinet task force appointed recently to monitor prices of various goods would meet this week to identify culprits and decide on the action to take, the minister said.
