BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s local currency, Malawi kwacha has depreciated by three percent.
This means the currency will be now be trading at MK1 751 to dollar following foreign exchange auction conducted by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM)on Monday, March 18, 2024.
In a communication to authorised dealer banks dated March 19 2024, the central bank said the forex auction in which four banks participated, was successful.
The RBM said the minimum selling price of the kwacha against the dollar will now be at MK1, 751.
Before the auction, the kwacha was trading at MK1, 700 against the dollar.
RBM spokesperson Mark Lungu confirmed the auction took place and Kwacha’s 3% devaluation.
The development comes barely four months after the local currency was devalued by 44% that resulted into skyrocketing of good and services.
Further depreciation of Malawi Kwacha has vindicated on what former RBM Governor Dr. Dalitso Kabambe predicted on November 9, 2023.
This is what Dr. Kabambe predicted, “Looking at the timing, this must be a prior conditionality for ECF. Since MK1,700/$ is still below the market equilibrium, we should anticipate further depreciations.
“Furthermore, this devaluation is just as reckless as the previous one given that fundamentals of the monetary policy stance remains helpless and fiscal consolidation is nonexistent”.
He added, “Mark my words, there will be no recovery from the macroeconomic meltdown. It will only make the suffering experienced by Malawians worse, as prices of basic goods and services such as fuel, fertilizer and food items, will soar”.
President Lazarus Chakwera Tonse Alliance government has failed to govern and unable to fix ailing economy four years in power.
Chakwera leadership has been characterised by high inflation, cost of living, forex and drugs shortage in public hospitals.
The leader however choose to have petty trips that drain hard-earned taxes.