Zim industries face shutdown over foreign currency crisis
Unless laws are urgently changed most manufacturers won’t be able to pay for the raw materials they need by February
Harare — Zimbabwe’s apex organisation for industries has warned that most of the country’s manufacturers could shut down by month end if the government does not adopt urgent measures to solve the country’s currency crisis. The troubled southern African country is facing its worst economic crisis in 10 years as a result of a critical shortage of foreign currency to import raw materials for its industries. Manufacturers say they owe payments of over $480m as at the end of 2018. President of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Sifelani Jabangwe told journalists at the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers breakfast meeting in Harare on Thursday that the country’s industries are in a quagmire. “As indicated earlier, most of the companies do not have raw material supplies that go beyond January as most of our suppliers cut us out on stock and it is only payment that will unlock the supply lines. The reason is we are eating into our lead times for bringing in goods. “Most of the ...
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