Money & Markets

Zim Goods Too Expensive: Consumer Council

THE prices of most consumer goods remained high during the first 10 months of this year although price decreases were witnessed through various promotions run by some retail outlets countrywide, an official from the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe(CCZ) has said.Consumer-basket

 

Statistics from the CCZ show that the basket for a family of six hovered between $550 and $590 during the period running from January to October this year.

CCZ executive director Rosemary Siyachitema said consumers’ spending patterns were measured because of low disposable incomes with the majority earning below the poverty datum line of $511 per month for an average family of five.

Manufacturers on the other hand faced serious challenges of capacity utilisation, high production costs and shortage of working capital.

“The pricing still remains the same although various shops had specials throughout the year. It still an expensive market for consumers. The goods are too expensive,” Siyachitema said.

She said during the 10 months period there were no significant price cuts in the market. “Most price decreases were witnessed when there were some specials. I cannot say there has been a significant decline in prices.”

Statistics from the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency indicated that year-on-year inflation rate for the month of October 2014 as measured by the all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at -0,001%, shedding 0,09 percentage points on the September 2014 rate of 0,09%.

This means that prices as measured by the all-items CPI decreased by an average of 0.001 percentage points between October 2013 and October 2014.

The year-on-year inflation rate is given by the percentage change in the index of the relevant month of the current year compared with the index of the same month in the previous year.NEWSDAY

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