Zimbabwe Arrests Dozens in Price Wars

Businesses flout strict cost-control laws as inflation passes 3,700%

By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 9, 2007 3:28 PM CDT

(Newser) – Police in Zimbabwe have arrested 1,328 businesspeople, including 33 top executives, for violating official price controls installed to curb uncontrollable currency devaluation. The new regulations demand that many goods' prices be cut in half in response to inflation that has now risen to more than 3,700%.

A single banana now costs more than a four-bedroom house did in 2000, one Zimbabwean tells the BBC. The price controls are forcing many firms to operate at a loss and shut down, but police are not backing down. "We will sustain this operation at all costs to make sure at the end of it there is sanity in the business sector," said a government spokesman.

[Images (6)]

[Videos (1)]

Morgan Tsvangirai, the main opposition leader in Zimbabwe addresses a rally in Harare, Saturday, July 7, 2007. Tsvangirai accused the Zimbabwean government of vote buying and destroying the economy by... (Associated Press)

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe holds up his fist as he listens to a speech during a rally organized by supporters in Accra, Ghana Sunday, July 1, 2007. More than 30 heads of state gathered in Ghana's... (Associated Press)

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe walks at the international... (Getty Images)

Zimbabwean shoppers walk past empty shelves in Mabvuku,Harare... (Getty Images)

Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai addresses Zimbabwean exiles at a rally in Luton, England, Saturday, June 23, 2007. Tsvangirai, President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is... (Associated Press)

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Zimbabwe Arrests Dozens in Price Wars