In yet another a bid to roll back a surging tide of hyperinflation, Zimbabwe's Incomes and Pricing Commission has ordered retailers to reset prices to Dec. 3 levels following a wave of increases triggered by increased cash withdrawal limits and a new Z$100 million note.
A loaf of bread now costs Z$60 million and a kilogram of meat goes for Z$180 million while a commuter ride from a Harare suburb into the capital costs Z$20 million.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently raised its cap on consumer cash withdrawals from bank accounts to Z$100 million a week from Z$500,000 a day. At the same time it issued a new Z$100 million bank note in a bid to end chronic shortages of cash.
Economist Godfrey Kanyenze of the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the government has not learned from the past when orders to cut prices drove companies out of business.