Govt blacklists 19 contractors
BUSINESS REPORTER
Government has blacklisted 19 contractors for fuelling illegal parallel market activities in a bold step to stabilise the local currency and contain inflation.
In a statement yesterday, Finance and Economic Development minister Mthuli Ncube said the move came after an investigation by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) showed that contractors tend to “siphon” their proceeds into the parallel market thereby causing domestic inflationary pressures.
He said the FIU investigations showed that some of the companies would engage in transactions which are not related to their line of business and also purchase fast moving consumer goods from various manufacturers and sell the goods exclusively in foreign currency.
The blacklisted companies are Paza Busters (Pvt) Ltd, Redan Coupons (Pvt) Ltd, The Legacy Car Rental, The Best Car Rental and Construction Warehouse (Pvt) Ltd, among others.
“…In an endeavour to maintain sanity in the foreign currency market and to curb inflation, the government is left with no option than to blacklist the mentioned companies,” Ncube said.
He said the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe would be advised to blacklist the entities from doing business with the government.
In August, the government introduced the value for money concept after it emerged that some suppliers were deliberately inflating prices resulting in some ministries and departments exhausting their budgets.
The value for money concept prescribes the blacklisting of suppliers that fleece the government. The concept also dictates that stern action should be taken on officials in ministries, departments and agencies that play a midwife role in inflating prices by suppliers.
