The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) says the newly refurbished Liwonde Railway Station has boosted revenue generation from K100 million per month to K2 billion per month.
Speaking during day two of the media tour for newsroom editors in Liwonde on Wednesday, MRA’s Marketing Communications Manager, Wilma Chalulu said the facility has already started boosting revenue through the improved collection of tax since its rehabilitation.
She said before the rehabilitation works, MRA was collecting K100 million per month before hitting K500 million last year, and this year, the Authority can collect K2 billion per month.
“Liwonde is going to be a very significant part of our revenue collection. As you have said, the rail rehabilitation is going to be important, and we have already started ripping the fruits of this station.
“For example, last year, the collection was about K500 million, and before this, we used to collect only K100 million per month, but with this rehabilitation, we are now able to collect K2 billion per month, and this is because we have seen the importation of commodities like fuel, coal, clinkers etc. All these commodities are bringing in more revenue to MRA than we have had before.
“This Eastern Region is bringing in more revenue to the country through MRA, and it will be significant as the rehabilitation of the rail is almost completed,” she said.
On Tuesday, MRA took editors to the Marka-Nyathando border post where another railway rehabilitation is currently taking place, and as per the Authority, more revenue will also be generated.
According to MRA, plans are underway to turn the place into a fully operational border post like Mchinji, Songwe, Mwanza, and Dedza.
The media tour has been organized by the Authority to help the newsroom editors appreciate several infrastructure developments that, upon completion, will boost Malawi’s economy through the collection of tax.
Apart from these Customs and Excise stations, MRA will also take the editors to smuggling hotspots to appreciate the challenges that the Authority is facing in dealing with smugglers.
