An organisation that represents buyers, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has today opened up on its Twitter handle claiming to have made a survey which shows that prices have been shooting up by 100% in March.
The Council, which has been called a toothless bulldog, says that prices of most basic commodities have been going up since September 2018 and more so significantly gone up over the past few months.
“A survey by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe as indicated by the family basket showed that the total price of basics from March 2019 have gone up by between 70 per cent and 100 per cent as compared to last year’s March 2018 price, thus overburdening the cash-strapped consumer,” CCZ said.
“Concerns have been raised on the current economic situation and consumers have now reached the point where it is difficult to afford these basic products.”
Information provided shows that the food basket which was just below $150 in March 2018 has risen to over $300 in just 12 months.
“In spite of the price increases, wages and salaries have not increased which is why we are seeing the purchasing power of money being eroded because salaries are not being adjusted on the basis of inflation,” CCZ says.
“It has come to our attention that many families are now surviving on one meal per day or on Tsaona products.”
“Various statistics have been made available to show how prices have increased from September 2018 to date.”
The council, which has in the past been called a toothless bulldog, it has continuously engaged with various stakeholders and policymakers on issues concerning these rampant increases of prices of both basic commodities and non-basic commodities.
“Stakeholders which the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe has engaged include the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Retailers and Manufacturers,” the council says.
“The objective of engagement with all the stakeholders is to get to the bottom of the cause of these high prices (which by now everyone is aware of) and to see how this can be managed and more so deal with speculative price increases by both manufacturers and retailers.”
