Dear Editor,
THE high price of consumer goods and services in Zambia is a great concern and it is affecting many people. This is because the majority of our people cannot afford to buy the commodities. The prices of these goods and services have kept on rising.
The high cost of living has brought so much suffering to the people. It is a fact that the high cost of goods and services is imminent everywhere. This is not the way things are supposed to be.
The high cost of goods and services entails inflation in the country. Inflation is a scenario where too much money buys a few goods and services. What is so amazing is that our highest currency, the K100 note can’t even buy a 25kg bag of mealie meal, our staple food for instance. The 25kg bag of Breakfast mealie meal sells between K130.00 and K150.00.
The gist of the matter is that only a few individuals can afford to buy the 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal. The majority of the people particularly in urban areas buy the pamela (prepacks of mealie meal) because the commodity sells at a price beyond their reach.
The working class are also feeling the impact of the high prices of commodities. This is because their salaries are not enough to meet their financial obligations such as house rentals, children’s school fees and transport among others.
The poor state of the national economy has been attributed to many factors and the Covid-19 pandemic has been singled out as the major one. This might sound correct but, the question is; what is the panacea to the dwindling economy? This is food for thought for our political leaders.
Not too long ago, President Edgar Lungu bemoaned the escalating prices of goods and services. President Lungu wondered how people were managing to cope with the ever increasing prices of goods and services.
Mr Lungu even warned that the nation might consider imposing price control measures amid the country being a free market economy. The Head of State also stated that there could be a cartel fixing exorbitant prices of goods and services to disadvantage the consumers.
Indeed, there is need to find lasting solutions to revive the national economy which is not performing well.
ELEMIYA PHIRI,
Lusaka.
