Zim living conditions worsen

By The Standard and Newsday | Feb. 20, 2015

LIVING conditions for most Zimbabweans have taken a turn for the worst, a FinScope survey has shown.

According to the FinScope Consumer Survey Zimbabwe 2014, 44% of Zimbabweans say they had to skip a meal because of lack of money for food. This is compared with 29% who skipped a meal in 2011.

This outcome is to be expected as Zimbabwe is currently going through a tough period where the number of companies closing, retrenching and going under liquidation is increasing by the day.

Just this year, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe applied for the liquidation of Interfin Bank while it cancelled the licence of another local entity, Allied Bank.

In 2013, the country recorded a record 9 617 job losses and 75 company closures and this contributed to the impoverished state of Zimbabweans.

The Finscope survey says 60% of Zimbabweans (up from 53% in 2011) had to go without cash income and had to make a plan for daily needs.

Those who are employed are not earning much either, with 76% of the adult population earning $200 or less per month. The sick among Zimbabweans were not spared either with, 37% going without treatment or medicine because of lack of money. This is up from 20% in 2011 when the last Finscope survey was conducted.

As many as 97% of Zimbabweans have had formal education. In 2014, 36% of Zimbabweans, up from 20% in 2011, were not able to send their children to school because of lack of fees.