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Zimbabwean consumers have welcomed a marginal decrease in the prices of fuel following a government directive.
The government last Friday directed fuel retailers to reduce prices of diesel and petrol by seven and five cents respectively citing changes in international prices.
Fuel prices impact on prices for products in supermarkets, transports cost and other services
Before the reduction petrol retailed for as much as $0,50 and retailers hardly adjusted their prices despite a fall in oil prices globally.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe executive director Rosemary Siyachitema said the reduction meant that hard pressed consumers would make some savings.
“This means consumers can keep some extra money in their pockets for other things.
“The fuel reduction is in line with the international prices and it’s a good thing we are moving in line with what is happening world over,” she said.
“Fuel prices impact on prices for products in supermarkets, transports cost and other services, it is our hope that we will soon see a price reduction”.
The reduction in fuel prices coincided with a report by the Zimbabwe National Statics Agency (Zimstat) stating that the country’s poverty datum line is now pegged at $495,12.
Zimstat said an average Zimbabwean was living on $1,01 per day as of July.
The agency said an average household of five people required $496,12 to buy basic food items.
It said the food poverty line for a family of five people stood at $157, 03 up from $156, 94 in June.
The poverty datum line represents the cost of a given standard of living that must be attained if a person is deemed not to be poor.
The World Bank defines poverty in absolute terms and extreme poverty as living on less than $1, 25 per day and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day.
With civil servants earning less than $500 per month, this means most Zimbabwe’s are struggling to make ends meet.
In August, the World Food Programme (WFP) predicted that around 1.5 million Zimbabweans will starve this year after a dramatic fall in maize production.
Some 16 people of the population is expected to be ‘food insecure’ at the peak of the 2015-16 lean season.
