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Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
GOVERNMENT on Tuesday cracked its whip on some pharmacies in Manicaland for breaching the exchange control regulations and policies through using black market rated prices.
In a Press statement, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development listed Central Pharmacy, Grey Pharmacy, Murapi Pharmacy, Lancaster Pharmacy, Necta Pharmacy, all from Mutare, as well as Mediplus Pharmacy, Greenview Pharmacy and Kaizen Pharmacy from Rusape, among the 17 pharmacies from across the country that were found breaching the exchange control regulations and policies.
The pharmacies face the risk of losing their trading licences or being suspended as a consequence of their non-compliance.
This followed concerns raised by residents following reports that some pharmacies were charging exorbitant black market rates to discourage customers from using the local currency and opt for the United States dollar.
The Finance Ministry statement also stated that ongoing investigations by the Financial Intelligence Unit revealed that the pharmacies were using parallel market exchange rates ranging from between $8 500 to $11 000 against the USD, in complete violation of Government policy and the country’s anti-money laundering regulations.
Currently, the interbank rate stands at $4 998 against US$1.
Investigations conducted by The Manica Post on Wednesday revealed that some pharmacies in Mutare, including those on the list, were claiming that their POS machines were not working or had no power in order to discourage people from using the local currency.
Clients without USD were either being turned away or being forced to buy overpriced medication using the local currency.
Interviewed residents in Mutare applauded Government for suspending licences for those breaching the stipulated regulations and policies.
Said one resident, Ms Charity Tunji, “We could no longer afford medication because of pharmacies pegging their prices using black market rates. We were resorting to the use of herbal medicine because the rates that were being used by these pharmacies were beyond our reach.”
Another resident, who only identified herself as Gogo Chikwati said she was turned away from one of the pharmacies as she did not have any USD.
“I wanted to buy diabetes medicine for my husband and I was told that the POS machine had complications and was out of use. I ended up buying the medication in another pharmacy, but at a much higher price. This is daylight robbery and Government should put its feet down and deal with them,” she said.
Government has called upon the transacting public to immediately report violations to the Financial Intelligence Unit.
The Press statement states that under the National Development Strategy (NDS1), Government has made considerable progress in stabilising the economy, the exchange rate and general price of goods and services by implementing a variety of fiscal and monetary stabilisation measures.
Reads part of the statement: “Government is committed to achieving lasting price stability and recently introduced the wholesale foreign exchange auction system which allows banks to access foreign exchange at market determined exchange rates for onwards transmission to their customers.
“This liberalised trading environment has allowed the market to stabilise and we have seen a market appreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar and the containment of inflation, creating a conducive environment for business to operate.
“However, Government notes with concern that some market players continue to exhibit highly destabilising forward pricing and speculation in outright violation of exchange control directives as well as standing Government policy guidelines with respect to pricing and the use of domestic currency. This practice is particularly rampant but is certainly not limited to the pharmaceutical sector.”
It further states that Government remains committed to the broad use of local currency for domestic transactions and stern measures will be taken against service providers who continue to violate provisions.
Government recently directed all Government agencies, including local authorities, to collect their levies in local currency.
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