By A Correspondent- Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Panonetsa Mangudya recently told bakers and millers that they will not be allowed to raise the price of bread.

Mangudya said this during an online meeting hosted by the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ), last week.

The meeting was also attended by the National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe, including Bakers Inn, Lobels Bread and Proton, as well as millers such as National Foods, Blue Ribbon Foods and Edurate Milling.

Mangudya said:

We want to assure bakers and millers that going forward they will now be prioritised for foreign currency allocation during the weekly forex auction.

Bakers have no reason to justify any bread price increase because when the price of bread was $79, it was based on a speculative black market rate of between $100 and $120 per US$1.

We expect bread prices to go down given the fact that bakers are now accessing forex at the auction at a much lower rate of $80 against US$1.

Millers and bakers wanted to increase the price of a standard loaf of bread to $80 from an average $60, citing rising productions costs.

Mangudya pledged to avail at least US$2 million weekly to millers and bakers, though they need a total of US$12 million per month.

-Statemedia