HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s president has more than doubled the price of gasoline, hoping the increase will end severe shortages that are fueling public anger as he departs on a foreign trip to Russia and other countries in search of investment.
In a press conference Saturday night, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the increase in the state-controlled price of fuel should ease the shortages that have gripped the country in recent weeks. Mnangagwa left Zimbabwe Sunday on a trip that will conclude with his attendance at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Zimbabwe’s gas shortages highlight that this southern African country is battling its worst economic crisis in a decade due to a severe dearth of foreign currency.