{"id":69774,"date":"2018-09-28T08:04:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T06:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=69774"},"modified":"2018-09-28T08:04:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T06:04:42","slug":"reserve-bank-of-malawi-maintains-inflation-forecast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2018\/09\/28\/reserve-bank-of-malawi-maintains-inflation-forecast\/","title":{"rendered":"Reserve Bank of Malawi maintains inflation forecast"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chimwemwe Mangazi:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
RBM Governor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has said there is no need to press the panic button on inflation<\/a>, maintaining its forecast of an average single digit by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

Average inflation for 2018 and 2019 is projected at 9.3 percent<\/a> and 9.6 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n

RBM has maintained a five percent inflation forecast in the first quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n

Inflation has been on an upward spiral since July and was recorded at 9.3 percent in August, up from nine percent.<\/p>\n

But briefing journalists in Lilongwe at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, RBM Governor, Dalitso Kabambe, said he was confident that inflation would be contained in the remaining months of the year.<\/p>\n

He said, in the short term, inflation is expected to remain slightly elevated albeit transitory, on account of seasonal factors, utility tariff shocks, pump fuel price pressures and rising public sector financing requirements.<\/p>\n

He further indicated that the stance would be complemented by mop up operations to maintain the liquidity conditions at required levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we saw that the Consumer price Index changed, and we saw that it would elevate inflation for 2018, particularly too we saw that maize prices for 2017 had collapsed and that there will be a correction this year following the harvest we had,\u201d<\/em> Kabambe said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He added: \u201cWe also saw that global market fuel prices are going up you recall that, last year, they were at $42 to a barrel and have since risen to about $80 but also the bringing in of diesel generators to the country whose running costs are higher and would reflect on an increase in electricity tariffs. We saw all these and decided to maintain the policy rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commentators warn that inflation would continue rising in the coming months as prices of basic commodities, including maize, rise.<\/p>\n

Kabambe said it would take time for Malawians to experience the full positive impact of the registered improvements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are coming from a period of hyperinflation. You recall that in 2012\/13 inflation was at 37 percent; now it\u2019s at 9.3 percent. Interest rates in commercial banks were as high as 45 percent now at 22 percent and the prices of maize were going up almost every month, which is not the case now. So, there has been change that is trickled down to the people,\u201d<\/em> Kabambe said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chimwemwe Mangazi: The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has said there is no need to press the panic button on inflation, maintaining its forecast of an average single digit by the end of this year. Average inflation for 2018 and 2019 is projected at 9.3 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively. RBM has maintained a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69778,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69774\/revisions\/69778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}