Now that dual pricing has found its way into commodities, the existence of the two economies is more visible than ever before. At least the Government has taken cognizance of this fact, as evidenced by the setting of two separate prices for maize flour, even though the solution advocated may not be sustainable in a free market economy. The CBK can take a cue from this, to craft separate policies for the formal and informal economy because the impact of current policies is constrained to the formal sector and may not have wide reaching effects on the informal economy. As it is, there is barely any meaningful intercourse between the two economies hence the growth of the rich man’s economy does not lead to the uplifting of the poor man’s economy with the welfare of the poor remaining stagnant if not in decline. This is why the common man is never ecstatic about positive economic growth prospects – they are rarely felt in his pocket.

Accordingly, if the CBK adheres to the current policies, it will impact 80% of the economy and a mere 20% of the population while the majority of the population is left to grapple with millennium development goals. On the other hand, the CBK’s realm of authority is dependent on its influence on money and subsequently the less the monetary activity in an economy the less the influence; so we may just have to leave the fate of the informal economy in the hands of the less than philanthropic politicians…after all they did get their electoral mandate from the struggling majority. Then again, the majority of the politicians live on the cream that is skimmed off the rich man’s economy…