Getting by has gotten a lot more expensive for Zimbabwean households - a family of six needed Z$21.7 million in September to purchase the essentials of life, up 30% from August's Z$16.7 monthly bill, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said Tuesday.
The state-sponsored council said the biggest percentage rise in costs was seen in the national staple food of maize meal, which was up 222%, followed by meat which surged 172% and cooking oil, 104% more expensive.
The organization said commodity supplies had improved somewhat, but that overall there were still not enough goods on shelves to meet consumer needs.
Economist Godfrey Kanyenze, director of the Labor and Economic Development Institute of Zimbabwe, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that an average worker making $5.7 million a month is on starvation wages.
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