Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government ordered the prices of basic goods to be slashed by around 50 percent, reports said on Tuesday.
Bus fares, bread, fertiliser, milk and many other commodities have shot up in price in the past days.
Industry Minister Obert Mpofu said the price increases were unjustifiable.
The "government is aware that these escalating price increases are a political ploy engineered by our detractors to effect an illegal regime change against the ruling party Zanu-PF," Mpofu told reporters in Harare on Monday, adding, the government wanted to protect consumers.
Retailers, transport operators and manufacturers have been told to revert to the prices they were charging on June 18 while the authorities study their case.
Under the decree, the price of bread which was selling for as much as 55 000 Zimbabwe dollars (about R1 500) in the central Harare district of Avondale on Monday, would be slashed to to Z$22 000, the official Herald daily said.
A popular brand of orange juice concentrate known as Mazoe orange must now be sold at Z$120 000, down from Z$600 000.
Even the Herald newspaper must reduce its price. The paper was recently hiked to Z$25 000 per copy, but now it must sell for Z$15 000.
Minister Mpofu blamed the price increases on unruly behaviour by the business community. But businesses and observers say the hikes have been necessitated by the massive weakening of the Zimbabwe dollar against major currencies like the US dollar.
The Zimbabwe dollar last week fell to 400 000 to the US for large transactions on the black market, against the official exchange rate of 15 000 to the US.
The government has now ordered fuel stations to sell fuel for just Z$60 000 a litre, down from 180 000.
It was not immediately clear whether the decree would prompt sellers to close shop.
In a measure aimed at pacifying low-income earners, the authorities also hiked the tax-free threshold to Z$1,5-million, up from Z$100 000.
The new threshold is still way below the poverty line, which stands at around Z$5.5 million per month
One has to admire the genius of Mugabe's government 
