HARARE – The price of bread has gone up to Z$44 per loaf from around Z$35 due to the rising cost of production, the National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe (NBAZ) said on Thursday.
“The cost drivers have also moved. You find that the flour price has moved, sugar has moved, other raw materials have moved so all the cost drivers that contribute to the cost of bread have moved. So effectively for our members to remain afloat, the price of bread had to go up,” said NBAZ president Dennis Walahe.
Last week, the government issued Statutory Instrument (SI) 119 of 2020 which allowed the duty-free importation of maize meal and wheat flour for a period of six months to November this year, hoping to stem shortages.
Hyperinflation has wreaked havoc on the Zimbabwe dollar, which was re-introduced last year after a decade of dollarisation. The low confidence in the currency has seen most shops pegging their prices in foreign currency, while prices in the Zimbabwe dollar are constantly being adjusted upward in line with exchange rate changes.
Year-on-year inflation was 765,57 percent for April. Financial services company Atlas Mara has projected that inflation will quicken to 1,000 percent by the end of the year. – New Ziana
