ZIMBABWE: Cost of living soars for urban families

BULAWAYO, 5 October 2005 (IRIN) - Galloping inflation is sapping the purchasing power of urban Zimbabweans, according to a new report by the country's consumer watchdog. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said on Wednesday that basic expenditure for an urban family of six had shot up from about Zim $6.9 million (US $265) in September to Zim $9.9 million (US $380) in October. CCZ spokesperson Tonderai Mukeredzi blamed the cost of living hike on rocketing prices of basic items like sugar, maize-meal, rice, cooking oil and school fees in the past few weeks. "The wave of prices that we have been experiencing in the past weeks has had a direct effect on the consumer basket and now a family of six needs $9.9 million to buy essentials every month. But the figure is definitely going to rise soon as commodity prices continue to go up," Mukeredzi told IRIN. He explained that an average worker in Zimbabwe earns far less than the minimum household basket, and "many families can not afford a standard three meals a day". According to economic analyst and opposition Movement for Democratic Change advisor Eddie Cross, "What this simply means is that urban poverty is on the increase; an average worker in Zimbabwe has a disposable salary of about Zim $4 million (US $154), compared with the Zim $9.9 million that each family now needs." Zimbabweans have been mired in economic recession for over six years, now weighed down with inflation of over 300 percent, stubbornly high unemployment, food shortages and a serious foreign exchange deficit. According to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 released last week, the southern African nation is going through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980. "Zimbabwe is a particularly sad case, whose quick descent to the bottom of the world's competitiveness rankings reflects the continued deterioration of the institutional climate, including the disappearance of property rights, the corruption of the rule of law, and the implications these and other factors have had for macroeconomic management," the WEF report alleged.