Cost of living soars in Zimbabwe due to high inflation

It is now common in most supermarkets in Zimbabwe to find piles of abandoned goods at till points competing with those on the shelves in terms of volume.

The goods are left by disgruntled shoppers who fail to pay for them because some retailers are continually hiking prices of most basic commodities.

The southern African country is currently facing the problem of currency plummet and the high inflation has sent the price roaring.

Day after day, prices are being increased at the expense of consumers who are now restricting their buying to purely basic necessities and many families have to cut down on the number of meals they consume per day.

Zimbabweans used to have three meals a day. Instead of tea and bread in the morning, they have now resorted to a breakfast of porridge without sugar in the mid-morning that also serves as early lunch, and then supper.

According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe's July monthly consumer basket, a low-income urban family of six requires about 5. 4 million Zimbabwean dollars (about 540 US dollars) for groceries, up 200 percent since January.

Manufacturers are now focusing more on producing the expensive refined supplementary products which are not controlled but beyond the reach of many consumers.

Controlled basic commodities such as sugar, cooking oil, soap, bread and soft drinks, among other products, are still scarce.

Some manufacturers are working in cahoots with retailers to produce in large quantities basic commodities that are not controlled as a way of skirting around the recommended prices.

These manufacturers have resorted to producing the refined products such as the milk-loaf that is not price-controlled and is always available, while the normal bread affordable to many has since disappeared from the supermarkets.

The same is happening with cooking oil which is not price- controlled.

All the controlled basic commodities have disappeared in supermarkets and all you find are products which are not controlled.

Most people are now forced to buy the basic commodities on the black market where they are found in abundance.

Many people have expressed concern over the packaging loopholes being taken advantage of by manufacturers to circumvent the recommended prices and called on the government to act quickly.

Industrialists have recently assured the government that there would be an improvement in the availability of basic commodities on the formal markets.

With the increasing prices of basic commodities, school fees have decupled starting from August while some schools backdated the increases to January this year.

Most parents expressed concern over whether their children would be able to continue going to their current schools or if they should transfer them to those schools charging lower fees.

As much as the parents appreciate the economic challenges in this country, they have to meet other expenses which have also gone up markedly, for example, the electricity tariffs and municipal rates.

It is said that most parents are surviving on loans from money- lending firms, which were charging exorbitant interest rates. As a result, they are now caught in a debt trap.

Source: Xinhua