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Crowds were queuing at petrol stations on Friday in Malawi after fuel rationing was imposed this week. A lack of foreign exchange interrupted supplies. The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) said restrictions would affect specific petrol stations and help prevent hoarding and black-market sales
Crowds were queuing at petrol stations on Friday in Malawi after fuel rationing was imposed this week. A lack of foreign exchange interrupted supplies. The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) said restrictions would affect specific petrol stations and help prevent hoarding and black-market sales. The government says it is resolving the unavailability of foreign exchange to pay $75 million in suppliers’ debts.
The measures were meant to “ensure fair access to fuel across Malawi,” MERA chief executive Henry Kachaje said, but many residents and businesses are feeling the pinch.”Inflation has surged, and with the onset of the rainy season, farmers are unable to access or transport fertilizer, placing the nation’s food security at severe risk,” said the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), a local advocacy group.
The lack of fuel has increased the costs of transportation, with knock-on increases for prices of essential goods and food in a country where many people live in extreme poverty. Government spokesman Moses Kunkuyu said that the main cause of the crisis was the unavailability of foreign exchange to pay for USD 75 million owed to suppliers of the commodity. The problem is now being fixed, he said.
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The Human Rights Defenders Coalition said the nation deserved to know when this crisis will end. The government assured Malawians that the crisis would last only a week, but now it is entering the fifth week, with no relief in sight, the group said in the statement.
