ECAMA Demands Fuel Levy Cuts as Prices Soar, Shortages Bite

President of the Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA), Bertha Bangara, has thrown her weight behind growing calls to scrap non-essential levies on fuel—warning that the current pricing structure is squeezing households and pushing the economy toward deeper distress.

The numbers tell a brutal story.

Petrol has surged to K6,672 per litre from K4,935, while diesel has climbed to K6,687 from K4,945. That sharp jump is not just a statistic—it is feeding directly into the rising cost of living, driving up prices of basic goods that millions of Malawians depend on every day.

Bangara argues that taxes embedded in fuel prices are now doing more harm than good.

“When fuel becomes this expensive, everything else follows—transport, food, and essential services,” she said in essence. “You cannot tax an already struggling population and expect stability.”

Her position is clear: suspending non-essential levies is no longer a policy option—it is an economic necessity. According to ECAMA, high fuel taxes are amplifying inflationary pressure at a time when households are already stretched thin.

But the crisis goes beyond price.

Malawi is also grappling with persistent fuel shortages, creating a painful contradiction: consumers are paying record-high prices for a product that is still scarce.

Bangara says this is a policy failure that demands urgent correction. Without decisive action, she warns, the combined effect of high prices and erratic supply will continue to choke businesses, disrupt transport, and erode livelihoods.

Last week, Minister of Energy and Mining Jean Mathanga assured the nation that fuel supply would stabilise by Tuesday. That promise has yet to translate into relief on the ground.

For ordinary Malawians, the reality remains stark—fuel is both too expensive and too hard to find.

And unless government moves quickly to ease the tax burden and fix supply chains, the pressure is only going to build.

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