HARARE The cost of living for December 2009 dropped by one percent from November, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said.CCZ executive director Rosemary Siyachitema said the marginal decrease was because of special offers that retail outlets in the country were offering during the festive season. She said in November, a family of six needed US$492.10 to meet basic requirements but the figure declined to US$488.11last month. This marginal decrease is attributed to the fact that during the festive season most supermarkets had special offers for their products. However, we still think that prices of basic commodities are still high and with competition we hope the prices will go down further, she said.
She said the food section for a family of six last month declined from US$136.79 in November to US$132.80 in December. This reflects a three percent decrease on this section and we hope this will drop down to five percent, she said. Most of the countrys basic commodities are imported from South Africa because capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector was still very low. According to a recent Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries report, capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector is 32, 3 percent. Siyachitema said the basket on rent, water, transport and clothing last month remained unchanged at US$344. Service providers still need to put their house in order by considering charging reasonable services rates. The service providers need to review their rates reasonably, she said.