adminSince August, the family basket for a family of six has been on the increase raising concern that some of the commodities will soon be unaffordable to the majority of consumers.
In an interview, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce economist Mr Kipson Gundani said it was true that prices were changing and he blamed it on retailers who he said were taking advantage of the festive season’s high demand for groceries.
“As we approach the festive season people tend to buy more hence demand naturally rises and some retailers are responding to this high demand by hiking prices of basic commodities,” he said.
The Ball Joint economist, Mr Ephraim Makara, echoed the same sentiments saying most Zimbabweans who were abroad usually come home during public holidays such as Christmas and as such
were also contributing to the high demand for groceries as most of them no longer bring groceries from outside the country as was the case in the past.
“Businesspeople are at times greedy and want to profiteer especially during this period when they know that some workers are being paid bonuses. What, however, the retailers seem not to appreciate is that very few companies are paying bonuses because most companies are not operating at full throttle,” he said.
Mr Makara said if the retailers continue to increase prices, they will soon price themselves out of the market.
“Many workers’ salaries have remained the same for a long time and in some cases have actually been reduced so who can afford these increased prices? he said.
An economist with Kingdom Holdings, Mr Witness Chinyama, had a different view saying the increase in prices of basic commodities was just a rotation which happens every year as prices tend to go up in the year’s last quarter only to drop in the first quarter of the following year.
“Prices are going to go down at the beginning of next year as the demand goes down though much blame should be apportioned to the reintroduction of duty on some selected products is largely to blame for the price increases witnessed.
“Since the reintroduction of duty, prices went up to cover for the duty,” Mr Chinyama said.
Mr Makara, however, insisted that duty had nothing to do with the increase in prices of basic commodities.
“The reinstatement of duty was meant to protect local industries so the same industries which are being protected are unfortunately taking advantage of the reduced competition to fleece consumers.
“It’s just that Zimbabwean people are still haunted by the Zimbabwean dollar syndrome whereby every thing is about 100 percent profits which doesn’t apply today,” he said.
Mr Makara said some retailers were running fake promotions whereby they reduced prices of a few items and increased the rest.
Mr Gundani and Mr Makara said unless the “price hike madness” was stopped many consumers will not afford even basic commodities such as mealie-meal and cooking oil.
“It is difficult for the majority of workers to come up with monthly budgets because the money they earn is just not enough,” said Mr Makara.
He said what had worsened the situation was that at present there was no institution mandated to control prices.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe can just make noises about exploitation of consumers but cannot take legal action.
Online Reporter