Africa-Press – Malawi. Government says traders and service providers should not take advantage of the fuel hike to increase prices of goods and services. Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Transport and Public Works made the appeal in a statement yesterday.
Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe and Deputy Minister of Transport and Public Works, Nancy Chaola Mdooko, said in the statement that traders should not to take advantage of the situation to unjustly raise prices of commodities.
“Exercise restraint to temptations of increasing the price of goods, services and works, which is going to hurt consumers and consequently influence negatively on inflation which had been reasonably stable for a long time given the downsides of that COVID-19 has brought to many nations including Malawi,” reads a statement jointly signed by the ministers.
Chaola Mdooko said public transport operators, including those under the umbrella of Minibus Owners Association of Malawi (MOAM) should also apply reasonability in responding to the fuel increase with respect to adjusting commuter fees
According to the two ministers, government will monitor increases in the cost of goods, services and works in order to check for unjust adjustments. On Saturday, Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) increased price of petrol by 28 percent from K899 to K115 per litre. The authority also hiked diesel price from K898 to K1120 representing 24.7 percent. MERA blamed depreciation of Kwacha and increase in prices on the international market for the hike.
