By Rungano Dzikira

Government is currently seized with crafting ways to assist local industry deal with the teething inflationary pressures, low productivity and power challenges currently hindering production of goods for local consumption as well as exports.

Addressing captains of industries, Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said that Government was aware of challenges faced by industries and was in the process of mapping ways to deal with shortage of foreign currency which has been identified as the main reason hindering production.

“Policies being pursued by Government will undoubtedly tame the inflationary pressures currently bedevilling the economy.

“The country’s underlying fundamentals are in the right direction and must be buttressed by strong commitment from all stakeholders involved and implementation of policies to boost economic growth and to guarantee exchange rate and price stability,” he said.

Minister Ndlovu said the current shortage of hard cash had led to a supply and demand disequilibrium, and arbitrage opportunities for differential pricing models, depending on the mode of payment, thereby creating distortions in the pricing mechanism, and Government was putting in place systems to curb such distortions.

Likewise, retailers bemoaned poor business turnover due to exclusion of certain sections of consumers relenting to inaccessibility of cash.

“Shortages of cash excludes the informal sector, the rural people and senior citizens from fully participating in economic activity,” said Denford Mutashu of Retailers Association of Zimbabwe.

Local industry’s capacity utilisation has been on a freefall since 2002 as a result of economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West. Government has likewise continued coming up with several policies to counter economic sanctions as well as to cushion industry, and to increase exports receipts.