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Kiyapili Sibanda, Business Reporter
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) says continued foreign currency shortage is dampening efforts to revive the local industry despite various import substitution interventions implemented by the Government.
CZR president Mr Denford Mutashu said retailers were finding it difficult to get enough foreign currency to import some of the goods that are not supplied by local companies.
“The CZR is not happy with the dwindling allocations and some companies reportedly indicate that they have not received foreign currency since November 2017,” said Mr Mutashu.
He said Government should prioritise foreign currency generation, availability and transparent allocations.
“The Government should prioritise foreign currency generation, availability, and transparent allocations by banks.
Many senior banking officials are reportedly selling foreign currency at a premium averaging 18 percent.
“The RBZ should seriously improve the financial services sector oversight role and request banks to submit a transparent list of whom they allocate the foreign currency they hold at any given time,” said Mr Mutashu.
Mr Mutashu also said retailers and wholesalers who import selected goods that are not locally available have not been spared the foreign currency allocation crisis.
“Giant retailers indicated that they last received foreign currency allocations in November last year while big manufacturers like Zim-Kings Trading have been struggling to access foreign currency to expedite progress on their multi-million dollar plant, an investment that was a direct response to Government’s calls to import substitute,” he said.
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