INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED SECRETARIES AND

ADMINISTRATORS IN ZIMBABAWE

EXAMINERS’ REPORT: NOVEMBER 2020 EXAMINATION

BUSINESS ECONOMICS

GENERAL COMMENTS
There was an improvement from the June 2020 performance. There is a tendency by
candidates to waffle around issues affecting the economy even if they are not relevant.
For example, in a number of cases the issue of covid-19 was raised.

Question 1
All the candidates attempted this question. This was a simple and straightforward
question and the candidates’ performance was very good. Only a few candidates failed
the question. The majority of the candidates did extremely well on part (a). There were
no major problems in the way the candidates answered this question.

Question 2
This was another popular question among the candidates. This question was attempted
by almost all candidates. The candidates’ performance was poor as only a few
candidates passed the question. Both parts (a) and (b) were poorly answered. On part
(a) most candidates managed to raise only two relevant points. The candidates’ poor
understanding of monopoly was clearly shown on part (b).

Question 3
The candidates’ answers showed that they had an understanding of the concept of
elasticity. The answers indicated that the applicability of this concept is a problem to a
number of candidates. Most candidates failed the calculations on part (b) item (ii).
Hence, part (b) item (iii) answer turned out to be guesswork.

Question 4
The performance was poor as only two candidates passed the question. The candidates’
answers on part (a) indicated that the majority of them had no idea of the theory of

1
consumer behavior. A number of them failed to mention a single assumption of this
theory. Part (b) was equally badly answered. Candidates only managed to calculate the
marginal utilities on item (i).

Question 5
The candidates’ performance was very poor. In most cases only one or two relevant
reasons were discussed. The most cited reason being that high interest rates deter
borrowing, hence limiting business expansion.

Question 6
This was the least popular question among the candidates. One candidate had an idea
of the circular flow of income. The other candidates had no idea of what the multiplier is
all about. Part (c) of the question was poorly done by candidates as none of them
managed to get the calculations right.

Question 7
This question was very popular with candidates. The performance was good although for
a number of candidates there was a lot of waffling. Among the most cited reasons for
Zimbabwe’s limited growth were political instability, corruption, limited foreign and
domestic investment and foreign exchange shortages. Generally, there were no major
problems in the way the candidates answered this question.