Business confidence low

By PETER ESILA
CONSUMER confidence in the country is now very low, according to Brian Bell Group chairman Ian Clough.
“The economic situation in the country is more challenging than we have seen for many years. Disposable income is very low and the pay packets of our people are barely enough to cover essential living like food and housing,” he said.
“While the outlook may be cautiously optimistic, we have a serious situation to deal with before we see the benefits of any planned foreign investment.”
“Employment growth, education investment, health investment and the delivery of basic services like water, electricity and law and order all need to be urgently addressed or we risk more and more issues in the months to come,” he warned.
He said the Brian Bell Group was pleased to learn that the first stage of support to those businesses affected on Jan 10 had started to be received and put to good use.
“We did not request any wage support as all of our affected team members were redeployed to other parts of our business. We need these team members to help us maintain our operations and all are working hard to do this.”
On Friday, the government release first set of wage support to City Pharmacy Limited with K5.75 million, Bismillah – K2.514 million and Paypon – K588,000.
“We are eager to learn more regarding a number of elements of the Government’s support package for the restocking and rebuilding phases,” Clough said.
“Questions relating to the nature of the support and the compliance requirements for businesses to meet to access this support. Areas like tax relief, duty concessions and whether support is in the form of loans or grants, still needs clarity. Three months on from the events of Jan 10, the burden on the businesses affected is significant and the response needs to gain some pace.”