THE price of clear beer has gone up again, hardly a month after Delta Corporation Limited increased the asking price of the commodity by 100 percent following the company’s decision to sell some of its products in US dollars.
According to the new prices, a 375 ml green bottle now costs RTGS$2.50, up from RTGS$2 while a 750 ml brown bottle is now pegged at RTGS$5, up from RTGS$4.
The price of a 750 ml brown bottle is now RTGS$4.50, up from RTGS$3.50 while a 375 ml of the same product now costs RTGS$ 2.50, up from RTGS$2.
Some liquor outlet owners who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com said the latest price increment was only an adjustment necessitated by the depreciating RTGS currency against the greenback.
In February this year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) pegged the value of US dollar to US$1: RTGS$2, 5.
The situation is different however on the thriving black market where US$1 now fetches RTGS$4, 25.
A snap survey in Bulawayo by NewZimbabwe.com revealed that most bottle stores and other liquor outlets now charge varying amounts depending on where they source for forex to procure their beers.
“We are now buying beer from Delta using a black market rate of RTGS$1 to US$4, 25. In order for me to make profit, I am now selling a 750 ml bottle of green beers for RTGS$7.
“I am sourcing the forex from the black market where the rates are very low here in Bulawayo,” said one bottle store owner of condition he was not named.
In January this year, Delta was forced to withdraw a notice to sell its products in foreign currency after central bank assurances of forex allocations to continue running its operations.
The central bank however failed to honour its pledges, resulting in the beverage manufacturing giant pricing some of its products in hard currency.
