Prices of school uniforms have gone
up once again ahead of the beginning of the first term for the 2019 calendar year on Tuesday.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu told the Daily News yesterday that the price increases were a result of the
steep cost of accessing foreign currency on the black market required to import raw materials.
Despite being a major producer of cotton, Zimbabwe is importing fabric, especially from the Far East, due to capacity constraints at key textile plants such as David Whitehead Textiles Limited in Chegutu.

“We have noticed that prices of uniforms have increased dramatically first before Christmas and now they have increased again. We were told by the manufacturers that they are sourcing foreign
currency on the parallel market and that is worrisome,” said Mutashu.

“Getting foreign currency on the parallel market is triggering the price hikes because it attracts a huge premium,” he added.Daily News