Malawi: Six million Euro to save fuel crisis

  1. Posted on Tuesday 1 December 2009 - 16:24
    Mtheto Lungu
    Image of Mtheto Lungu
    Mtheto Lungu, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
    Malawi is coughing out a whooping six million euros to halt its acute fuel shortage that has affected its economy. Market watchers blame the crisis on the shortage of foreign currencies to buy enough fuel from Mozambique.
    fuel crisis
    The Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) executive officer Chancellor Kaferapanjira told The Nation: “Government needs to look at its policy. They should learn to listen to other peoples' advice. Government is controlling market prices too much."

    AfricaNews reporter said there are long queues at different service stations in search of fuel which scarcely come.

    Fernando Couto, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Development Corridor (CDN), which runs the Nacala port and rail system, said that Malawi had simply run out of foreign exchange.

    News making rounds in the southern African country is that the forex exchange is due to lending to Zimbabwe US$ 100 million which is yet to be repaid.

    "The Malawian authorities have tried to blame Mozambique for the country's fuel woes, claiming that fuel has been held up because of congestion in the ports of Nacala and Beira. This claim was strongly denied on Monday by managers of both ports," Couto said.

    "Government employed a very wrong policy when fuel prices went up to $147 per barrel on the international market. Basic economics states that if you sell a product at a price lower than the purchasing price, you end up having no product to sell," explained Kaferapanjira, who also chairs the Petroleum Pricing Committee. The committee’s advice to adjust the prices locally fell on government's deaf ears.

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