Dondofema Jotamu

Price Control in a Crippling Economy: Basic Commodities Availability in an Controlled Economy Dondofema Jotamu

This research sought to establish the impact of price control on availability of basic commodities on the formal market in Masvingo District. The rationale behind it was to address the negative impacts, making basic commodities accessible to the majority at affordable prices. This resulted from unscrupulous dealings during price control leading to price hiking and empty shelves. The descriptive Survey was used as the research design with the population of 100 business people where 20% was regarded for a sample through random sampling. The questionnaire was used as the research instrument following its assessment for validity. Collected data was presented in form of tables and figures for clarity and easy of understanding. Percentages were used for the processed data in the process of analyzing it. The study showed that price control impacted on availability of basic commodities on the formal market negatively through price hiking, hoarding and removal from shelves to create shortages, divergence of the goods to parallel market and provision of substandard goods in terms of both quality and quantity.