Fuel Supply to improve as govt secures K60bn

By Antony Isaiah Jr:……..

The fuel supply in the country is expected to be improve this month as the government has secured $60 Million which is about K60 Billion credit line for the procurement of fuel supplies to curb the crisis.

Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority made the announcement on Saturday in Lilongwe during the government face the press that was aimed at briefing the nation on the current status of fuel shortages.

The Chief executive officer of the Authority, Henry Kachaje said securing the funds is one of the solutions that the government is pursuing.

“We have secured $60 million revolving credit fund through the Reserve Bank of Malawi and other [commercial] banks. This will improve fuel supply in the country. We have an indication from the Central Bank that they have made available some resources.

“The country is to expected to receive 12 million litres and 13 million litres of petrol and diesel respectively next week which aims at filling our 60 million litres fuel capacity reserves,” said Kachaje.

There have been long queues in filling stations for the past months due to scarcity of fuel, a development that Kachaje attributed to an acute disruption of forex reserves which saw them receive sanctions from the suppliers.

“National Oil Company of Malawi and the Petroleum Importers of Limited were unable to pay for fuel for about 10 days. This forced the government of Mozambique and Tanzania to confiscate the commodity in their warehouses.

“What the country lacks is sustained supply of forex. When fuel gets to Beira in Mozambique or Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania there is need to clear it immediately, but such has not been a case in recent times because of the forex challenges,” he added.