Taming prices of basic commodities will be the major talking point when Government meets industry tomorrow to discuss how implementation of the fuel rebate system, which was effected on March 22, will benefit consumers.

The rebates for excise duty on fuel effectively guarantee refunds for businesses in the productive sectors of the economy — manufacturing, agriculture, mining and transport — for the extra cost they incurred after the new prices became effective on January 13.

Industry believes the effective implementation of the rebate system will enable them to downwardly adjust prices.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu told The Sunday Mail that tomorrow’s meeting will also discuss challenges faced by manufacturers.
“When we put a rebate, the whole idea was to provide relief to the customer and the people, not to business. That relief is through affordable prices, and that was our expectation.

“We are going to have a meeting with industry on how this impacts on their cost structures and result in price reductions for ordinary people,” he said.
Although Government was mooting the idea of “People’s Shops”, he said, it remained conscious not to “intervene too much in the market”. State media