As lockdown restrictions on movement and shopping are incrementally eased, it was expected that people would begin spending again and the economy would pick up.
However, the reality could not have been more different, as the
latest consumer confidence index numbers show.
In layman’s terms, the index
indicates the degree of optimism in
the state of the economy that consumers express through spending
and savings.
The latest figures released show that confidence is at an ebb, the second-lowest in its history.
This is hardly surprising given the situation many find themselves in.
Millions of people are still not earning an income, due to restrictions occasioned by the lockdown, and many are receiving reduced pay cheques.
The small increases in grants and special Covid-19 payments hardly inspire people to spend on big-ticket items; these are barely enough for people to put food on the table and many are unable to pay the rent for the roofs over their heads.
All this has a ripple effect - if people do not spend, retailers are in trouble and jobs are at risk.
The lockdown hastened the demise of the Edcon group, which was already in trouble, as shoppers stayed away due to movement restrictions and for fear of contracting the virus, with thousands of jobs set to be lost.
The effect of the pandemic is plain to see. If a tenant does not pay rent, the landlord must still meet the utility bills for the property.
Readers would also have noticed that some editions of this paper are printed with barely a paid-for advert to cover our costs as businesses cut back on marketing and advertising budgets.
This places jobs in the media industry at risk too, with the Media24 group announcing this week that it is shedding more than 500 jobs and shutting down several print products.
If there’s something positive to take out of the dismal numbers, it is that people are abandoning consumer culture and, rather than spending on luxuries which they might not be able to continue paying for, are concentrating on the essentials, the needs rather than the wants.
It is an attitude to be adopted even after the lockdown ends, and hopefully a lesson well learnt.