SA for tipsy, cheap dates

NOWHERE will a night out with the possible love of your life cost you as much as in Zurich. But if the object of your affection smokes and boozes, you may not want to be courting in Oslo or Melbourne.

Stay at home in South Africa, where bad habits are cheapest.

For at least the second year running, Switzerland’s banking hub took the prize for the most expensive city for a date — taxi rides, pub suppers for two, soft drinks, two movie tickets and a couple of beers — says Deutsche Bank’s special report Mapping the World’s Prices 2017.

In the home city of UBS and Credit Suisse, a night out cost $195.90 — 147% of the level in seventh-ranked New York.

Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid and Sukanto Chanda advised Zurich residents to choose their dates

Residents in Zurich are advised to choose dates carefully, and marry young

carefully, and marry young. That way was cheaper.

The aim of the research is to provide insight into whether rates do actually adjust to correct large price differentials across countries and time as conventional economic theory suggests they should, all else being equal.

Switzerland’s place at the top of the dating list should give investors, and potential romancers, a clue. Things are rarely that simple. The country’s strong currency means local prices seem sky-high for its European neighbours.

Paris, the City of Reasonably Priced Love, was placed 17th for dating. Of the 47 places surveyed, dates were cheapest in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manila.

The Bad Habits index of five beers and two packs of cigarettes ranked Norway’s capital first, followed by Melbourne. At $75 in both places, they were 119% more expensive than in Manhattan. Auckland came in third at 104%.

“At the opposite end of the spectrum it’s very cheap to indulge in such habits in the Czech Republic and South Africa,” Deutsche Bank said.

In those two countries, the price level relative to New York was just 23%. — Bloomberg