CEO Gwarega Mangozhe said the council hoped for a better performance by the economy as output in key sectors was expected to improve. The end of the drought would, over time, have a positive effect on food prices and food inflation.
Mangozhe said, however, that consumer spending remained affected by high household debt, which had an effect on the income available for day-to-day expenses "let alone to enable consumers to make big-ticket purchases".
Council members in the retail trading sector continued to "focus on providing value to consumers by improving internal efficiencies and passing on the resultant savings achieved to consumers through discounted and special prices on selected basic and nonbasic products", said Mangozhe.
"We expect this trend to … become the norm as the competitive landscape is changing because cost-conscious consumers are now always searching for bargains. Overall, the [council] is cautiously optimistic about an improved trading outlook for this year."
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