adminAction Group (AAG) former vice president Mr Sam Ncube has said.
Most shops in Bulawayo are popular for rating their commodities in rand against United State dollar.
The rate has been US$1:R7 all along but recently they have been equating the dollar to R8 while service stations are pegging it at R10. The official rate is about US$1:R8
Mr Ncube said it was easier to run business in Harare than in Bulawayo because of the cross rate system that caused many distortions in the city.
“It has become cheap to conduct business in Harare and other towns than here. This is because the use of the rand has caused many price distortions and the situation has never been conducive for many business people let alone consumers who feel shortchanged by the unjustified exchange rates,” said Mr Ncube.
Mr Ncube, who is also the managing director of Bulawayo Tyre Services, said local business people should cease to quote their products using the rand when the country was preferring the use of the United States dollar.
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“While we now use multi-currency system, the most preferred currency in most cities, apart from Bulawayo, is the US dollar. Even all banks use the dollar with most companies paying their workers in US dollars.
“It is against this background that Bulawayo should not act like it is not in Zimbabwe. Instead this cross rate system should just end because it has negative consequences on our economy.”
He said the use of rand, as a dominant currency in Matabeleland, was tantamount to self-marginalisation since it made the whole region more expensive than others.
Most people in Bulawayo now prefer to use the rand in place of dollar because they think they are being cheated. The South African rand has declined in value but surprisingly, business people have not acted in correspondence to this new development by lowering their products and this act of insincerity and dishonesty is worrying consumers.
The rand has tumbled to a 15- month low against the United States dollar.
Online Reporter