Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Sifelani Jabangwe was quoted by the privately owned NewsDay on Friday as saying the majority of Zimbabwean firms do not have enough supplies of imported raw materials to last a month.
Zimbabwean industry heavily relies on imported raw materials, mostly sourced from neighbouring South Africa.
“So we have a situation where the country is grinding to a halt. We do not have more than 10 days to make decisions,” Jabangwe said.
He warned that most companies would be forced to close unless they start getting foreign currency allocations from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
The central bank has been struggling to provide adequate foreign currency to crucial economic sectors such as manufacturing and energy, resulting in shortages of basic commodities and fuel.
The fuel shortages have resulted in a lot of downtime as Zimbabwean motorists spend long hours queuing for petrol and diesel.
Critics lay the blame on misplaced priorities by the Zimbabwean authorities, including imports of top-of-the-range vehicles for ruling ZANU PF officials and traditional chiefs while no foreign currency is allocated to productive sectors.