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Ms Rosemary Siyachitema

Acting Business Editor  
THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says consumer spending this festive season is subdued due to the liquidity crisis in the economy.
Of late, consumers have been struggling to access cash from banks.Speaking by telephone from Harare, CCZ executive director Rosemary Siyachitema said:

“We have received reports from shopkeepers that although there have been some days people were buying but it is not like the previous festive season.

“Consumers are really laboured by expenses such as school fees and when schools open in January they have to pay school fees and because of that commitment their spending during this festive season is subdued.

Due to liquidity crisis in the economy, the Retailers Association of Zimbabwe has said demand during this festive season has declined by 30 percent compared to the same period in 2012.

Siyachitema said prices in the country were pegged at higher margins if compared with regional countries.
“When we adopted a multicurrency system, prices were pegged at higher margins and in light of the current liquidity crunch, consumers’ spending is limited.”

Meanwhile, the consumer watchdog has over the years been lobbying the Government for the promulgation of the Consumer Protection Act.

In this light, the Consumer Protection Bill has already been tabled with President Mugabe having recently indicated that the bill was one of the top priorities of the legislative business of the 8th Parliament of Zimbabwe.

CCZ said it was delighted and encouraged that Government had finally responded positively to cries by the consumers to have the consumer protection framework enhanced and has taken it in its stride to make regulatory reforms that would protect the interests of consumers.

For many years, CCZ said consumers have suffered from a barrage of unfair trading practices without just redress. In addition, because of the absence of the Consumer Protection Act, the consumer watchdog was a paper tiger as it cannot enforce the adherence of consumer rights by businesses in the country.

Against this background, some unscrupulous business people have taken advantage of the absence of the consumer protection law to flout consumer regulations by for example, pegging prices of their products exorbitantly.