CfSC to continue lobbying for regulated market
The Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) said it will continue lobbying for the review of the Constitution to amend the concept of a liberalised market that Malawi is adopted.
CfSC director Jos Kuppens made the remarks on Thursday in Lilongwe during the second annual basic needs basket (BNB) conference for 2017.
He said a free market concept imbedded in the Constitution is not a good idea and should be taken out of the Constitution.
“The market should be working in a way that people should have a better life. For Malawi, the market is really small and to have a real market system where there is much competition to regulate prices is not possible. Let people decide what system to follow. Items like maize should be regulated and protected,” said Kappens.
Meanwhile, figures from CfSC have shown that the cost of living has for the past five months been on a steady decline, owing to the falling maize prices.
Between January and June 2017, the cost of living has reduced by 10.4 percent. In January, the cost of living was recorded at K183 411 as compared to K164 305 in June 2017 despite inflation steadily falling for more than 10 months.
In an interview, CfSC economic governance programmes officer Lucky Mfungwe said though a positive development, there is need to ensure that the improvement is not temporally.
“To maintain the situation, we have recommended policies that are strict on corruption which is hindering progress in the economy, regulation of prices in the agriculture sector and improvement in the minimum wage,” he said.
Mfungwe, however, noted that the falling of maize prices is at the expense of farmers who cannot break even as the price of maize in other parts of the country is too low for business-oriented farming. n
