Stronger currency hasn’t pushed down prices

TRYING TO comment through the gloom of the stronger local currency, Zambia’s Central Bank Governor, Caleb Fundanga, says that the business community should pass the benefits accrued from its strength on to the public. After all, every imported item has become 40% to 60% cheaper. Commentators are however quick to note that this has in fact not happened and prices have remained the same on the shelves of retail outlets, despite most of the products being imported. Price reductions, Fundanga said, would help not only the poorer people who constitute 65% of the population, but also reduce inflation. “Some people are claiming that we are propping the kwacha to gain against the other convertible currencies, but those who have followed our policies will agree that it is for the betterment of the people who put us into power,” he says by way of explanation. That would be the case if in fact things got cheaper, but they do not seem to be.