HARARE – As Zimbabwe celebrated 39 years of independence from white colonial rule on Thursday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa raised the spectre of price controls as he accused businesses of profiteering.

The price of bread nearly doubled on Tuesday, another burden for citizens already struggling with a weakening currency and rising prices for basic goods.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the price increases “whether by design or otherwise, certainly have the effect of dampening the mood of the nation” just before the country’s independence celebrations.

Mnangagwa picked up on the theme in a pre-recorded interview with the ZBC on Wednesday night, warning: “We do not want to go to a situation where the government is forced to regulate prices.”

Maintaining that he was “against the regulation of prices”, Mnangagwa said businesses had to “have a human face when they are making their profits.”

“It’s not good business for them to make super profits the same day they begin their businesses,” the 76-year old said.

Bread now costs RTGS$3.50 a loaf, up from RTGS$1.80 on Monday, according to prices displayed by most shops.

Prices for the staple maize meal also went up, with a 10kg bag of now costing an average RTGS$11.85, up from RTGS$9,20.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe and the National Bakers’ Association of Zimbabwe said the government had triggered this latest round of price hikes by raising the producer price of maize from RTGS$390 a tonne to RTGS$726, while wheat was increased from RTGS$630 to RTGS$1.089.69.

“Bread has now become a luxury. How many people can afford it at this rate?” said Sarah Chisvo, a mother of three who was picking up groceries in a supermarket in central Harare. “The government needs to do something before this gets out of hand.”

Zimbabwe ditched its own currency for the U.S. dollar and other currencies in 2009, after hyperinflation reached 500 billion percent the previous year.

In February, faced with acute shortages of U.S. dollars, Zimbabwe introduced a new currency, called the Real Time Gross Settlement dollar. The RTGS has been losing value ever since, forcing companies to increase prices.

Year-on-year inflation raced to 66.8 percent in March, up from 59.39 the previous month, according to statistics agency Zimstats. Zimstats however stated that under the old basing system it used until February this year, the rate had shot up 166 percent – confirmation, some analysts say, that Zimbabwe is now in hyperinflation.

On Wednesday, the RTGS dollar was trading at 3.19 to the dollar on the interbank market and 5 on the black market. That means a loaf of bread costs about 70 U.S. cents a loaf, in a country where the average income is around $4 a day.

Bread is the most consumed staple after maize meal, and the increase follows that of other products like cooking oil, sugar and milk. In January, a fuel price increase led to protests that left several people dead following a military crackdown.

While prices of basic goods continue to spike, salaries have largely remained unchanged, increasing public anger against President Mnangagwa’s government.

Additional reporting Reuters