Prices for basic foods go up

1. Can some one explain to me why Prices in zambia are among the highest in africa. Food is just as expensive as in london.
   As for talk time, it is more expensive to use a mobile in zambia then it is in london. As for houses, it is the most expensive place to buy a house in southern africa. Air travel is one of the most expensive to zambia in the whole of Africa. Yet we are not the richest country why are prices so high ???

2. This contradicts the previous reports that our economy is the most improved in the world!!

3. How ironic that the economy has improved & basic needs prices keep on rising.

4. Much as I appreciate there being an increase in food prices, I find such reporting by our journalists to be flawed. The first statements talks of NATIONAL ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ price hikes in food, while the subsequent statements talk of the food price increases for mealie meal,cooking oil and dry fish in LUSAKA, without even telling us what the January price was AND what the national picture was. I find this reporting unnecessarily alarming.

5. Much as we distrust CSO figures, I find they are more professional in their reporting. I took the liberty of looking at the February Monthly bulletin which recorded a 3.2 percentage-point increase in food prices nationally; they also reported a 2.8% increase in breakfast mealie meal national prices and a 6.6% increase in dried bream per kg national prices. they did not use flowery language like “unprecedented” and “drastically”. That, to me, gives me a proper national picture. So when analysing, bear in mind that JCTR are using Lusaka average prices while CSO uses national average prices. My point is: business reporters should give us proper analysis of figures

6. It is time parliament determined the poverty datumline in line with the real cost of basic needs of a family of 5 or 6. The pegging of non-tax threshold at K600, 000.00 does not make sense given the cost of basic needs for an average family. The inflationary trends in the country are caused by inequitable distribution of the national cake. Certain clique of individual and politicians in Government are better renumerated than an average worker pushing up inflation. The former have adequate safety net to cushion the inflationary trends.

7. This seems to be a visciuos cycle. The costs of production are also rising as reported by investors who zambia has some of the highest production costs in the region. These costs are passed on to the poor consumers.
   Goverment overpaying them selves needs to be addressed. We hear of unlimited loans for MPs. Allawances for MPs and other goverment officails run in the thousands of $s.
   Because corruption of the FJT days is out of fashion now it is been done legally byway of allawances and perks.
   How can one justify allawances for a seminar in livingstone at $10,000 for one offical associated with the minsitry of education ?.

8. This is another example of “economic growth does not lead to poverty reduction”. We have been singing about single digit inflation, GDP growth and strengthening Kwacha, those things do not put food on the table if the economy is performing below par and there is ineqaulity in the nation. The cost of consumer goods is driven by production and transportation costs. Therefore, if we import alot of inputs and energy costs are high in production, it will reflect in the final price. If the final price is being inflated by retailers, we need strong regulatory bodies and consumer advocacy groups.

9. Kaili balamibepa ati economy yali impruva

10. # 8. zemaNdola
    Yes what is needed is strong regulatory bodies and consumer advocacy groups.
    zemaNdola, by the way are based in zambia, if you are can we compare prices. Using yahoo currency converter..
    Here in london a loaf of bread is about £1.00 = K7536.
    How much is it in Zambia ?
    Can other pipo join and lets see the cost of living aroung the world compared to zambia.

11. can someone tell me if the CSO also has reported of any salary increments during the same period correspondences to the increase of basic food stuffs on a nation scale…

12. #10. Pat

    I have been away from Zed for 6 months, but I think I can still comment on the cost of living in Zambia against UK. The cost of living in Zambia is Cheaper than in the UK if you convert what you are paying in UK directly to Kwacha because of the exchange rate and purchasing power parity (a pound is worth more in Zambia than in the UK). Take your example of bread, in UK with £1 pound you can buy one loaf of bread. In Zed, with £1 (K8,000), you can get too with change. The probelm in Zambia is that just under 70% live in poverty, so they dont even have that £1. What we need is more jobs and better income distribution. This is where sustainable economic policy comes in.

13. I am not an economist but my assumption is that in Zambia the problem we have is monopoly by some companies that just want to make quick profit. It is more expensive to make a phone call in Zambia than any other country I have been. I think this is due to lack of competition.However, other items are more expensive in the UK. I am talking about food in general, houses are extremely expensive in the UK. A piece of meat will cost £10 which is enough to buy me the whole goat in Zambia. How to get a kwacha in Zambia is where a problem lies. Those with means of making kwacha are more comfotable than most of us who are in the UK and my advice is invest in your motherland Zambia.

14. #13, the greater the population the smaller the profit margin needed to stay in business…you make profit by volume!!that is a basic economic concept!!Zambians are not multiplying fast enuff to allow companies to achieve economies of scale..hence certain things being rather expensive!England is the size of the Kafue National Park…hence land in relation to population is scarce..hence the cost of land in england is crazy!!Stringent building regulations make the cost of a property even more expensive.in zed you can almost build any rubbish(Simoson)hence costing less!!

15. i see that #13 you eat organic foods hence you are paying £10!!buy TESCO value meat and £10 will feed you for a week…its just that you won’t remember the taste coz it has none!!Yes..encourage pipo to invest in Zed and benefit from the xchange rate after all, one would think retirement will be back home coz dying abroad is lonely and expensive business!!!

16. Why does Levy go around boasting that the Zambian economy is in excellent shape while that doesn`t reflect in the prices of goods and commodities?

17. Pa Zed yalizanda everything goes up except ka salary. Twachula mwe bantu. Vote wisely next time.

18. #14 your economic analysis is true in part but also contradict itself, look at some countries in Europe that have a fairly low population i comparison to Zambia but you will be surprised that that their Human Development Index and their per capita income is quite high to feed the country. so what am saying here is that we need high investments in R&D and spear ahead in innovation that the only way we can stay at a competitive edge in this globalization business going on, only if we allow these so called inverters to be banking in Zambia instead of RSA or elsewhere can we only have enough money in the economy to give you a loan to start a kantemba if you have a very good business plane…

19. …the other thing is to have a government that is responsible to its citizens and committed to see the country developed not just singing of Zambia being a land locked country and holding conferences whilst other are developing.let get real guys it our country so no one should detect the price of copper and other metals for us.

20. Imwe namwe mwabana mukulabantha? What do you think brings down food prices? It is not salary or ego-ego busines! It is food production! If poverty is eliminated, what r we going to remain with because that is the only thing we have known? (joke) Copper can bring cash, but if less food is produced and processed locally or we depend on imported food, then poverty will continue to haunt us! Let us support the govt with the agric support programs and soon agric. will attract unemployed urban dwellers! “Back to the land” program failed bcoz of lack of support in preference for mealie meal coupons! Starve now while agric improves, for tomoro your bellies will erumpt like volcano due to abundance!

21. POOR COUNTRY:d:d

22. no food for me again then loooool

23. On my way in a truck just got past the border so i am now an illegal immigrant :d (YES!!!!!)

24. Me what go chicken shop and feed dog to my mum but now bread cost to much

25. Marlone Picoe we will trake you down and shoot you in your illegal immagrant head!!!!!

26. I think i should go home now just eat a small zambian child and now i feel bad

27. Just come off the banana boat me cant speak no english i am a short dwarf in my country and i come here because i could of got shot for being like that and i am gay :”>

28. thought got past border but lorry driver let me get caught (bastard) now to get into country i had to get bummed by all the border force (dont tell any1 but i got a boner while they were doing it) i am very ashamed of what i have done. I just have to admit it MUM and DAD

    I AM GAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like uncle Antony kirkpatrick.
    :)>-:)>- peace out to all GAYs

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31. U sick bastard u my uncle:o

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