Press Release

Basic Needs Basket

JCTR PRESS RELEASE                                                                     20 DECEMBER 2011

COST OF LIVING STILL HIGH DESPITE STABLE INFLATION RATE, SAYS JCTR

The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection says that the minimum cost for an average family of six to meet basic needs was K2, 904,150 for the month of December. The JCTR December release projects the cost of food items at K818, 750 and the cost of essential non-food items at K2, 085, 400 for Lusaka. The Basic Needs Basket is a monthly analytical tool of the JCTR used to project the cost of living in the country and has been in use since the early 1990’s.

JCTR says, “Our Basic Needs Basket analysis for 2011 shows that the cost of living in Zambia remained consistently over K2, 900, 000 with the lowest projection being the December release. With this finding and looking back on 2011 in relation to the remarkable macro-economic improvements of the last decade, it is time that Zambians begin to realize the benefits of these improvements particularly in relation to inflation with a commensurate reduction in the price of commodities”.

JCTR says, “When the inflation rate in a country is stable, it is expected the purchasing power of money will also remain stable. However, while 2011 was a good year at a macro-economic level, at a micro-level the cost of living remained high and this may be exacerbated by the debt crisis with the Kwacha weakening and a decline in purchasing”.

Zambia has experienced profound improvements in macro-economic performance in the last decade having recently attained middle-income status; consistently improvement in Gross Domestic Product at 6% in 2011 and a drastic stability in the inflation rate from around 30% in 2000 to an average of 7.2% in 2011.

JCTR says, “A stable inflation rate reduces the severity of economic recession allowing the labour market to adjust to changes particularly in a downturn. Therefore, it is our hope that the current government will sustain the economic gains of the last decade and remain fully cognizant of the practical anxieties of these global developments on the average Zambian”.

The cost of living in Zambia continues to be high with an estimated poverty rate of 60%. The December BNB analysis shows that the price of mealie meal and bread reduced nominally in the year. This is despite two successive bumper harvests in 2010/11, and sufficient supplies of wheat in the year. The BNB also shows that the price of mealie meal stands at K45,600 compared to the January 2011 analysis, which depicted the price at K 45,700. Bread has remained consistent at an average cost of K4,400 during the year.  

JCTR wishes to reiterate that the economy exists primarily for the human person and therefore every individual should be empowered to exercise their right to access basic needs including food, clean water, education, and health services. Given the macro-economic improvements of recent times, Zambians need practical empowerment and cover from economic shock to effectively exercise their right to employment and the decent use of labour, a main asset primarily for the poor. 

Related Links

• BNB for December 2011 @
  K2, 904,150
  
• More Releases...