Poverty widens as the cost of living escalates

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said an average family of six now needs a net minimum income of US $254 a month to survive, the ‘Daily News’ reported on Thursday. The ZCTU’s new poverty datum line is a sharp rise from last October’s US $154 a month, which was arrived at after a study by the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (ECZ). Lovemore Matombo, the ZCTU president, said: “The US $254 is based on the consumer price index (CPI)”. The CPI is the most common measure of inflation in Zimbabwe, based on income, consumption and expenditure. As of October last year, about 75 percent of Zimbabweans were classified as poor. The numbers are increasing with the worsening economic situation and rising unemployment. Matombo said the destruction of tuckshops by the commission running Harare last month added to the problem of poverty and unemployment in the city.