Nankhumwa says fuel prices hike ill-timed

Leader of Opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa who is also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Vice President for the South has questioned the rationale behind the fuel prices hike by the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA).

MERA on Wednesday last week hiked fuel prices by almost 25 percent and the hike was attributed to the depreciation of the kwacha against major foreign currencies such as the US dollar.

The hike saw Petrol prices jumping from K690.50 to K834.60 per litre while diesel jumped from from K664.80 to K826.40 per litre

But reacting to the hike, Nankhumwa asked government to explains to Malawians as to why the fuel in the country is going up while at World level fuel is going down.

“The government should explain why this price increase is coming about when other neighbouring countries within the SADC region such as Tanzania and Namibia have been revising down their fuel prices this month citing moderate fluctuations in the prices of petrol and diesel across the international oil market.

“I believe this global fuel price drifting trend should also have reflected in the prices of fuel products in Malawi and be able to absorb any pressures on the price stabilization fund,” said Nankhumwa

He added: “Whilst it is true that there could have been some negative economic undercurrents, I still feel this adjustment is ill-timed and not particularly justifiable considering that many Malawians are already going through untold suffering in their daily lives.

“It is my strong feeling that the government should have pended this decision to allow Malawians first to recover from the hardships that have come about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Nankhumwa has since asked President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera to intervene on the matter.