Inflation puts financial well-being of workers at risk

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The financial well-being of workers has been at risk as the cost of living continues to soar.

The data show that this is the biggest annual inflation increase since March 2017 when the rate was 6.1%.

The current trend has economists speculating about the direction the repo rate might take as the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is expected to sit for its first meeting of the year on Thursday.

Workers are still recovering from December’s expenditure, as well as back-to-school and household expenses for the current month. The last thing that workers want to deal with is interest-rate hikes and inflation eating away at their disposable income.

Survival a daily battle

The main contributors to the CPI increase are food, non-alcoholic beverages, utilities, transport, miscellaneous goods and services, all of which fall under basic needs. For many, mere survival has become a daily battle.

The high inflation rate, combined with high unemployment, shows that our economy is not healthy. The cost of living continues to inflate while workers’ income often remains stagnant.

UASA Trade Union calls on service providers and business owners to spare a thought for consumers when pricing goods and services.

Government needs a practical turnaround plan to salvage the economy and to make sure that recovery is the core focus for 2022.

We hope that 2022 will turn out to be a game-changer for our economy.