Time to reclaim prices from cartels

Without discounting the immense damage of sanctions and corruption in the public sector, whenever Finance minister Mthuli Ncube blames many of the economic woes bedevilling Zimbabwe on cartels and manipulation of foreign currency rates on the so-called parallel market, he won’t be making a stupid joke as some people would have the nation believe.

When Ncube points out such exploitative malpractices, he is neither making excuses nor fabricating. Cartels — where manufacturers or suppliers group together with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition — are a reality in Zimbabwe as they are elsewhere.

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