By IREEN MULENGA
Chingola Business community has expressed concerns over the rise in the exchange rate of Kwacha to dollar and other currencies.
The business community has complained that the rate at which they are buying goods is increasing daily which is affecting their businesses negatively.
Raphael Jabulani, a businessman at Mwaiseni trading in electrical and Auto Spares said that the high dollar exchange rate has drastically impacted many businesses as goods are ordered from outside.
Mr Jabulani said that Zambia has no manufacturing companies; hence all goods are imported from outside.
“We as the business people are finding it very difficult to buy our goods because the dollar is shooting every day and Covi-19 situation has made it worse for us to travel and order our goods from outside the country,” he said.
He said that high exchange rate has made businesses to go down because people are not ordering goods the way they used to order when the exchange rate was low.
Mr Jabulani said that even customers are failing to buy the goods due to the shooting in the prices.
He said that the Covi-19 pandemic has also contributed to the downfall of many businesses therefore needing serious interventions by all stakeholders.
Mr Jabulani has appealed to government to come up with strategies that will help to sustain people’s businesses.
And Humphrey Mwalula another businessman said the economy is making it almost impossible to sale forcing people to close down.
Mr Mwalula said if the situation is left like it is many businesses will close down and people will die from hunger if they don’t have what to sustain them.
