The price of bread has gone up yet again in Zimbabwe, a day after the country abandoned the fixed foreign currency exchange rate and introduced the foreign currency auction system.
According to information reaching iHarare, a standard loaf of bread from Proton Bakeries is now retailing for ZWL$87 in some supermarkets in the capital. The is an increase of ZWL$26 from the previous price of ZWL$61. This price increase translates to a massive 40 per cent price increase.
This also means that a loaf of bread is now going for US$1.50 using the official foreign currency exchange rate established at yesterday’s first foreign currency auction system. According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe foreign currency auction system held yesterday, the official rate of one United States Dollar (USD) currently stands at ZWL$57.36. This was a change from the rate of ZWL$25 for every USD which was previously obtaining before yesterday.
However, the new official rate is still short of the foreign currency rates obtaining on the black market. On the streets, one United States Dollar is trading for between ZWL$90 and WL$100. This means that using the black market, the price of a loaf of bread is between US$0.86 (86 cents) and US$0.96 (96 cents).
The increase in the price of bread comes a day after the government also hiked the price of fuel in both Zimbabwe Dollar terms and United States Dollar term terms. Zimbabweans have expressed their outrage at the fact that fuel is going up in United States Dollars at a time when global fuel prices are generally depressed. Some have also fumed at the cost of blended petrol noting that the price of the locally produced ethanol is actually much more expensive than the landed cost of petrol.
