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The rising cost of living has become a burden not only for consumers but also for business owners.
At least that’s the case on the busy streets of Suva city.
With the rapid increase in the cost of living, people’s wallets are slowly being emptied.
Some business owners and retailers say business may be worse now than before the recent coronavirus outbreak.
Walking down the streets of Suva today, it’s easy to see one thing that’s obvious: people are now more cautious about spending money.
Yesterday, a shopper named Grace from Nasi Nuwa Levu said she comes to town less often because now she not only has to worry about shopping but also the cost of transportation.
Grace said: “I used to go into town to shop regularly but now I stay at home because the cost of transport is so high that I can no longer afford to come every time I go shopping.”
She said people will only go out and spend if they have enough money to spend.
“One thing I can tell you is that most people who come to town to shop have saved up for more than a month and that’s something the government should consider,” she said.
A customer service industry practitioner expressed her extreme pain in an interview with this newspaper.
“We want to spend money but we don’t have enough,” said Melanie Rabaka, a long-time lawyer at Suva’s busiest cafe.
She said the minimum wage increase proposed in the 2024-2025 state budget would not make much of a difference to her.
She would rather maintain the current level and ask lawmakers to reduce the cost of living to a more reasonable level.
“You know, this (wage) increase is nothing compared to the cost of living, we go to the store with $100 and we only get two or three items and that’s it.
“Before, I used $100 to shop until my next paycheck, which was for my family, including snacks for myself.”
Ms Rabaka concluded by imploring leaders to “not worry about lining their own pockets but worry more about the people who bring them wealth, which are us, the grassroots workers”.
Another shop owner, who wished to remain anonymous, also shared her concerns about the challenges posed by the drop in customers.
“My business has not been as good as before in the past few months. Business is not going well at all. For me, I am not only worried about paying my workers but also how to maintain the business now that the government has increased wages.
“How can I continue to pay my workers’ wages when no one comes to the store because the prices are so disproportionate to their wages?”
She said she had to adjust her prices due to market competition, but this only resulted in losses and she would have to spend money to repay suppliers.
She said it was becoming increasingly difficult to meet monthly targets and profits.
From a business perspective, owners agree that they are finding the situation increasingly difficult as consumers’ shopping habits slowly begin to change.
People are now very cautious about how they spend their money, while on the other hand, business owners are worried about how to keep their businesses running and pay their workers.
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