Council seeks government permission to levy rates in forex

Harare (New Ziana) -Harare City Council has approached the government for permission to levy rates in foreign currency for businesses that trade exclusively in hard currencies, an official has said.

The move comes after the council said it was failing to provide adequate service delivery due to foreign currency shortages.

Levying rates in foreign currency, the council said, would improve revenue inflows and in turn, result in improved service delivery.

Harare town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango said the government was yet to respond to the request.

“There are certain departments that without foreign currency cannot be run efficiently including water treatment and refuse collection,” he said.

Eng Chisango said the council was also negotiating with the government to be allowed to fix the sale prices of stands and rentals of its properties in foreign currency with payment in local currency being based on the prevailing exchange rate on the date of payment.

New Ziana