Family basket down $7 in January

Source: Family basket down $7 in January – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 6, 2018

THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) says the family basket decreased by $6,96 to $590,77 in January 2018, due to a reduction of duty on fuel.

BY BUSINESS REPORTER

In a statement yesterday, CCZ said the food basket decreased by $7,24 to $142,71 by end of January.

Major decreases were recorded in mealie meal, cooking oil, rice, tomatoes, meat and onions, the consumer watchdog noted.

“As CCZ, we assume that the reduction of duty on fuel contributed to the decrease in prices and ‘month-end’ special promotions of commodities in various shops,” CCZ said.

“The Avian flu that has struck the Zimbabwean poultry market and also the banning of poultry from South Africa resulted in the shortage of eggs on the market and price increases of chicken meat.”

Government recently reduced excise duty on all fuel products, in a move meant to reduce overall production costs and stabilise the country’s pricing system.

Duty on petrol was reduced from $0,45 per litre to $0,385 per litre, whereas diesel and paraffin duty was pegged at $0,33 per litre down from $0,40 per litre.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing a massive increase in prices of basic commodities since last year in September following panic buying which triggered them.

CCZ noted that the price of detergents increased by 2,03% to $14,06.

Increases were also recorded in margarine, tea leaves, milk, flour, cabbage, washing powder and laundry bar.

The prices of brown sugar, bread, salt and bath soap remained unchanged from the price figure of end-December 2017, it said.

The consumer watchdog encouraged consumers to shop conscientiously and to always buy certified products.

Where the products are not certified, consumers should exercise their right to information by carefully examining if the products they are purchasing are well-labelled, packaged and provided with vital information such as manufacturing and expiry dates and ingredients used in the make-up of the products.

The survey is conducted twice during the first and last week of every month.

The total cost of the food basket and the price of each commodity are arrived at by averaging prices gathered from retail outlets throughout the country.