Some 8.4 million people skip meals daily to cope with the biting economic hardships in the country, according to findings of a new survey.

The Social, Political and Economic Barometer (SPEC) indicates that 17.2 million people have also drastically reduced expenditure on essential households items in response to spiralling prices of basic commodities.

According to the survey, a whopping 19.6 million people feel their respective families' economic situations had worsened. The survey was conducted between last September and December Synovate Tanzania (formerly Steadman Group) to determine the levels and standards of living among Tanzanians.

The findings were released yesterday at a news conference in Dar es Salaam by the firm's media and audience research manager, Mr Abdallah Gunda and client services manager Jane Meela.

"Hardships among the public appear to have worsened since our last survey, and the current trend is alarming,"Ms Meela said. She added that their research showed that the poor continued to languish in poverty, while only a few felt their living standards had improved.

She said the government required policy and strategy interventions based on findings of such studies to make life easier and affordable for everyone. The study involved a random population sample of 2,000 people drawn from 21 regions Tanzania Mainland regions and Unguja and Pemba.

The sampling results have been tabulated and projected based on the estimates of the national population of about 40 million people to get the figures quoted in the report.

Other than those who have cut down on their budgets (43 per cent) and those skipping meals (21 per cent), some 11.2 million people (represented by 28 per cent of the respondents) said they had not reacted to the high food prices. Some 1.6 million people (4 per cent) resorted to borrowing from commercial bank and did not know how to respond.

The number of those who said their economic situation has remained the same was 16.8 million people, represented by 42 per cent of the interviewees. Just four per cent (1.4 million people) said their lived has improved and another five per cent (or 2 million people) said they did not know.

More women than men felt their economic situations had worsened while slightly more men said their status stagnated. But women outdid men in the category of those whose lives had improved.

The general findings could reflect the reality on the ground when compared to the recent food inflationary trend.

Statistics from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) show that the country's inflation has remained in double digits and was highest in August (18.9 per cent), just a month before the Synovate survey.

The rate declined to 17.3 in September, then rose to 18.1 in October and has since fell between 14.5 and 17 for the subsequent months. The figure was 3.8 per cent in January 2005.

In other findings, Mr Gunda said corruption and bribery (53 per cent) remained the most serious problems that affected the public followed by poverty (42 per cent), food prices (39 per cent) and famine and hunger (38 per cent).

Jobs, HIV/Aids, water, cost of living/high prices, health, electricity, drought, roads, education, farming/agriculture, insecurity and drug trafficking were also mentioned as other pressing issues, in that order.

According to the survey, corruption and poverty affected more women than men, but the latter was hardest hit on food prices and famine, perhaps owing to the fact that men are traditionally considered breadwinners for most families.

The SPEC results have been released only days after the institution released another survey, which indicated that President Jakaya Kikwete was leading the list of prospective presidential hopefuls.

The survey, which centred on political issues, also revealed that majority of Tanzanians still preferred ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) as a trustworthy political party.

The survey also depicted opposition MP Zitto Kabwe of Chadema as the most effective parliamentarian among a list of more than 230 lawmakers.