It seems as if the clock has stopped ticking. The end-of-year atmosphere has invaded the whole country. Streets and shopping centres are full of people getting ready for the end-of-year holidays. Even the MPs are on vacation and will resume duties only in March. It seems as if the country?s economy will be far from working at full speed until the middle of next week? When it will be time for the wake-up call!

While many thought that consumers would be less keen on spending a lot of money in shops and supermarkets this year because of the difficult economic situation, retailers can finally start rubbing their hands.

It has taken some time but people rushed out on shopping sprees on Xmas eve. Once again and despite the increase in the price of oil and domestic gas, consumers have indulged in their shopping.

Positive effect of free transport

Most supermarkets claim to have registered a 20% increase in their turnover compared to last year, which makes them talk of a ?mini-boom?. Shoprite even mentions a 60% rise compared to 2004.

According to the marketing manager, Faizal Ebrahim Dawood, as well as one of Jumbo Score managers, Hubert Adam, this increase is due to the free transport granted to students and pensioners, a measure implemented by the government a few weeks after it came to power. This grant, added to the end-of-year bonus, has given many people more scope for spending during this period.

Yet the beginning of the month did not hint at such a good performance for shops. Consumers had been shunning the supermarket shelves until the very last minute? Until they decided they would have a good meal for Christmas; traditional food for the festive season was definitely the most in demand during the weekend.

Although toys were also among the products most sold, the manager of Chong & Sons ? one of the leaders in toys and parlour games ? is far from exulting. Even though he admits his turnover increased by 20% compared to last year, he is aware that the additional expenses (related to the increase in oil products especially) will only allow him to reach a 10 to 12% growth in profits. ?But it is still not too bad,? he adds.

Such an attitude can only appear realistic in the present context. Retailers may be happy with the turnover they will obtain by the end of the year. If consumers have accepted to play the game for Christmas, it will certainly be the same for the New Year. The whole country has been working hard and we should be able to take advantage of this period ? without throwing money away for all that.

But this should not lead us to forget that we will have to wake up very soon. We will have to realise that the times ahead will most probably be tough for the great majority ? for the country as a whole. Moody?s rang the alarm bell with its latest report in which it moves the country down from a ?stable? economic situation to a ?negative? one. This should remind us that it will soon be time for all of us to tighten our belts.