Mount Meru Petroleum Limited has said it is permanently relocating its trucks from Malawi to Zimbabwe as there is no business in Malawi due to lack of forex.
This is according to a letter which the company wrote to the commissioner for Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).
In the letter dated 9 May, Meru asked MRA for guidance in deregistering 10 trucks and trailers worth over K500 million ahead of the relocation to Meru’s sister company in Zimbabwe.
The company said the trucks are being relocated due to lack of business in Malawi induced by shortage of forex.
“The trucks have not been moving much because we are not importing from both Tanzania and Mozambique following the scarcity of foreign currencies in the country, and we are struggling to pay our dues to the international banks,” the company says in its letter.
For over two weeks starting from 27 April, Malawi experienced nationwide fuel shortage that led to long queues at filling stations and forced motorists to spend nights at the service stations.
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority blamed the shortage on logistical challenges but according to the Meru letter, this was due to forex challenges.
Between August and November last year, Malawi also faced similar fuel shortages due to forex challenges and to ease the challenges the government in borrowed 50 million USD from The Arab Bank for Economic Development.
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