A hike in the price of maize to millers by the state-owned Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has forced mills to close in southern Zimbabwe, the private ‘New Financial Gazzette’ reported on Thursday.
The government had set the maize price at US $75 per mt. But the GMB last week raised its price to US $122 per mt for mills outside Harare, forcing several of them to shut. The millers are awaiting a decision by the government allowing them to raise their prices in line with the GMB’s move.
The price of the staple maize-meal is a politically highly sensitive issue in Zimbabwe. In April last year food riots left at least six people dead, prompting the government to introduce price controls, the newspaper said.
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