Bulawayo — Business is booming for service stations that are selling fuel in foreign currency, a development that has made them a serious threat to both the black market and service stations that use the coupon system.

The service stations are selling petrol at R12 a litre or US$1.44 without any minimum purchase, thus catering for those who cannot afford coupons, which are sold in units of 20 or 25 litres.

It is illegal to charge any commodity in foreign currency in Zimbabwe.

The service stations are a threat to the black market since they are cheaper. Petrol is selling at $800 for five litres on the black market, which translates to about R80, which is R20 more expensive than the service stations.

Though the price is slightly higher than that for coupons, which is about US$1.25 a litre, motorists say there are less hustles when one buys fuel for cash.

Under the coupon system, one has to go to the agent to obtain a proforma invoice, after that one proceeds to the bank to pay, then back to the agent to get the coupons and then moves on to the service station to get the fuel.

This is a process that can take anything up to the whole day depending on the queues at the banks.

"Cash is much more convenient," one motorist told The Financial Gazette.

"I don't have to spend all that time in a queue. Here, service is instant. Besides, some of those service stations that sell fuel for coupons can go for days without any fuel. You can get stranded with those coupons."

Staff at The Financial Gazette in Bulawayo at one time went for a month without being able to use their coupons. They had to return them to Harare.