The consumers Association of Malawi [Cama] has called for an investigation into rising prices of cooking oil in the country.
cooking oil prices have been rising in the past and manufacturers attribute it to re-introduction of Value Added Tax [VAT] on the product.
However a press statement from the consumers watchdog, says atributing the rise in prices to the re-introduced VAT is misleading.
According to Cama, their investigations have established that before the re-introduction of VAT in October 2020 a- 500 milliliter bottle of cooking oil was selling at K520 but immediately after the re-introduction of VAT it went up by 50 percent .
Cama has also noted that the rise in cooking oil prices is a result of other factors including the rise in crude oil prices on the international market.
Capital Oil refining industries Limited Executive Director Ameen Karim said that as much as there are other factors which have led to the rise they are burdened by VAT which makes the country’s oil more expensive than smuggled oil.
