President Lazarus Chakwera has urged Malawians to be patient, saying his government is engaging various players to ensure prices of goods are reduced.
The President said this yesterday at Ponda in Chilumba, Karonga, during a prayer service at African Church headquarters.
Chakwera cited rising prices of commodities such as sugar, cement, cooking oil, salt, fertiliser, and foodstuffs which Malawians say are worsening poverty levels in the country.
He said: “Komanso mitengo yazinthu yomwe ambiri mukuidandaula kamba kakukwera kwa zinthu dziko lonse lapansi pa zifukwa zosiyanasiyana, tiyeni tilimbikitsane kukhulupilira kuti mmene tikukambirana ndi anthu ogulitsa katundu ngati shuga, simenti, mafuta ophikira, mchere, feteleza, ndi chakudya, mitengo yazinthu ikhazikika ndipo mtsogolomu tisimba okoma.
“Olo vuto lomwe linachitika pakatipa la kusowa kwa mafuta agalimoto, omwe afikano m’dziko muno kuti vutoli lithe komwe omwe tayamba kuthetsa powagwira anthu adyera amene akumasokoneza chuma cha dziko lino pobisa ndi kuzikundikira katundu yemwe ife aboma timatumiza kuti muthandizidwe naye, tiyeni tilimbikitsane kukhulupilira kuti posachedwa zikhala mbiri yakale.”
[Prices of goods, which many of you are complaining about are due to increasing prices of commodities globally, let us remain resolute, that as we are discussing with those selling goods like sugar, cement, cooking oil, salt, fertiliser, and foodstuffs, these prices will be reduced, and we will all celebrate in the near future.
[Even with the challenge that we had on fuel, which has now arrived, for this challenge to end, we have apprehended some greedy people who have been thwarting the growth of our economy. All the challenges will soon be history]
Speaking at the same event, African Church finance director Mtundu Gondwe thanked Chakwera for providing them with 200 bags of cement towards the construction of their house of worship.
In June this year, household expenditure increased by an average 6.6 percent to K880 053 for an average household of six, a situation the Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) attributed to rising maize prices and transport costs.
In an earlier interview, CfSC economic governance officer Agnes Nyirongo observed that poor households typically allocate between 60 percent and 70 percent of their income to food purchases, which means that any surge in staple food prices rapidly destabilises their financial situation.
She said: “Households are being forced to make unbearable choices: skipping meals, delaying medical care, pulling children out of school, or sacrificing transportation in order to stretch limited resources.”
Nyirongo added that the unavailability of fuel in many parts of the country is now a serious challenge with long queues, delayed deliveries and limited mobility leading to increased transport costs.
“Traders are forced to factor these difficulties into their pricing, while workers and vendors are sometimes unable to travel to work, further reducing household income and market productivity,” she said.
