DIV class=MsoNormal style=”MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt”>HARARE – Zimbabwe ’s racing hyperinflation is depleting the purchasing power of urban Zimbabweans, according to the latest report by the country’s consumer watchdog, with an average family of six now requiring a bread basket worth a massive $485,000 monthly.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said yesterday that basic expenditure for an urban family of six had shot up from about $245,661.79 in December to $458,986.17 in January, representing an 86,8 percent increase.
8.2.2007
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Hyperinflation is depleting the purchasing power (08-02-07)
By Gift Phiri
Staff Reporter
<In a report availed to The Zimbabwean today, the consumer watchdog said the cost of education recorded the biggest leap of 261,9 percent, white sugar 255,6 percent, roller meal 235,6, transport 190,9, clothing and footwear, 119 percent, bread 179 percent, vegetables 131 and cooking oil 91 percent.
The increase comes as the National Bakers Association (NBA) is also lobbying for an increase in the price of a loaf of bread from the current $825 to $1,500.
“The industry is struggling to keep pace with working capital cost increases due to inflation and with these increases, the correct retail price of a loaf of bread should be $1,500,” the NBA said in an advertorial this week.
CCZ director Rosemary Siyachitema blamed the cost of living hike on rocketing prices, which she said was spawned by speculation mainly over devaluation anticipated from the central bank.
CCZ director Rosemary Siyachitema blamed the cost of living hike on rocketing prices, which she said was spawned by speculation mainly over devaluation anticipated from the central bank.
“Prices of most basic commodities have increased by worrying margins, a situation which has brought untold suffering to most consumers whose salaries have lagged behind while prices skyrocket,” Siyachitema said. “The wave of prices that we have been experiencing in the past weeks has had a direct effect on the consumer basket and now a family of six needs $458,000 to buy essentials every month. But the figure is definitely going to rise soon as commodity prices continue to go up,” Siyachitema told The Zimbabwean.
Siyachitema said she hoped the social contract mooted by central bank governor Gideon Gono would pave way for social dialogue and stabilise the prices of goods and services.
Gono last week proposed a social contract involving labour, business, trade unions and civic organisations to tackle an economy that has been in recession for the past seven years. Presenting his monetary policy review statement last Wednesday, Gono said the economy could be put back on track by a “package of holistic and complimentary policies accompanied by a credible sequence of programme implementation backed by undivided social, business, labour and political commitment.”
Siyachitema said an average worker in Zimbabwe earns far less than the minimum household basket, and “many families can not afford a standard three meals a day.”
According to economic analyst and opposition Movement for Democratic Change policy advisor Eddie Cross, “What this simply means is that urban poverty is on the increase; an average worker in Zimbabwe has an average disposable salary of about $100,000 compared with the $458,000 that each family now needs.”
Zimbabweans have been mired in economic recession for over seven years, now weighed down with inflation of almost 1,281 percent, high unemployment, food shortages and a serious foreign exchange deficit.
According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2006, the southern African nation “is a particularly sad case, whose quick descent to the bottom of the world’s competitiveness rankings reflects the continued deterioration of the institutional climate.”
Siyachitema said an average worker in Zimbabwe earns far less than the minimum household basket, and “many families can not afford a standard three meals a day.”
According to economic analyst and opposition Movement for Democratic Change policy advisor Eddie Cross, “What this simply means is that urban poverty is on the increase; an average worker in Zimbabwe has an average disposable salary of about $100,000 compared with the $458,000 that each family now needs.”
Zimbabweans have been mired in economic recession for over seven years, now weighed down with inflation of almost 1,281 percent, high unemployment, food shortages and a serious foreign exchange deficit.
According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2006, the southern African nation “is a particularly sad case, whose quick descent to the bottom of the world’s competitiveness rankings reflects the continued deterioration of the institutional climate.”
Siyachitema said the CCZ was gravely worried by the continued shortages of basic such as cooking oil, sugar, maize meal and flour.
The Trade Measures Act has also slammed the substandard loaf of bread being produced by bakers, which is weighing on average 430 grammes instead of the mandatory 700g.
Post published in: News