Business boom expected

Furniture shops are among businesses expecting a boom later this month when civil servants start receiving their bonuses

Business Reporter
BULAWAYO businesses expect a boom in sales once civil servants start receiving their bonuses later this month.
The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) hailed the Government for promising to pay civil servants their bonuses this month, saying it was good for business.
ZNCC Bulawayo chairperson Mr Crispen Mugova said the bonuses would improve liquidity on the market.

“I want to say we are very thankful that the Government has promised to give civil servants their bonuses this month. This will see an improvement in the liquidity flow in the market and we are expecting an increase in the sales,” said Mr Mugova.
He said demand has been very weak and some shops have remained with their stock for the last three months.

“I believe we are going to see an increase in demand for different products because people will have the buying power, and this will contribute positively to the growth of the economy,” said Mr Mugova.

He said this will enable the civil servants to clear their arrears and pay their installments on time which will improve efficiency.
Different furniture shops and retailers around the city centre who spoke to Chronicle said they are expecting an increase in sales and they were already giving promotions.

A sales representative from one of the furniture shops said they were expecting high sales especially since civil servants will be getting bonuses.

“We are expecting an increase in sales, we have reduced our prices so that our products are affordable to everyone,” he said.
He said they are giving up to 24 months to pay this festive season while some gadgets like phones are six months to pay at zero interest.
“We believe that we are going to see a lot of people buying because they will be getting bonuses including civil servants,” he said.

He said they will be giving promotions to allow customers to buy and be able to pay installments with reasonable interests.
“We hope that as civil servants get their bonuses they will have interest to buy our products and this will be a positive sign because business has been slow for the past months because people did not have money to buy,” he said.