Zimbabwe will run out of bread in a week as flour stocks decline: millers

Zimbabwe may run out of bread in a week after flour stocks have fallen due to the fact that the country has not paid for imported wheat, according to a confidential letter written to bakers by the group of millers in the country.

The country of southern Africa is plagued by a serious shortage of US dollars that has undermined fuel and drug reserves, while President Emmerson Mnangagwa is striving to keep his pre-election promises to quickly revive the economy. Economy in difficulty.

Zimbabwe imports wheat, which it mixes with its local culture to make flour for bread, the country's second staple food after maize flour.

The Managing Director of the Grain Millers Association (GMAZ), Lynette Veremu, wrote to the National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe (NBAZ) telling them that the country would not pay 55,000 tonnes of wheat in bonded warehouses in Mozambique and China. Harare.

"We regret to report that current stocks of foreign wheat for breadmaking have declined to 5,800 tonnes and … we have less than eight days of national bread flour supply," the letter says.

GMAZ spokesman Garikai Chaunza confirmed the letter, saying "this is the situation we are facing".

Ngoni Mazango, president of the bakers group, was not immediately available for comment.

The central bank lists wheat among priority imports as fuel and drugs, but has struggled to pay suppliers in the past. GMAZ said in December that it owed foreign suppliers $ 80 million for past imports of wheat.

The governor of the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank, John Mangudya, did not answer the calls on his cell phone.

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