Following high tobacco rejection on the market in 2016, Malawi currency has depreciated by 5.98 percent in the past six months, Malawi24 can report.
Malawi’s economy which is predominantly agricultural has been affected by the country’s green gold rejection rate due to poor quality leaf as claimed by buyers on the market.
According to statistics from the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC), burley tobacco which is mainly grown by small scale farmers has so far earned US$7.8 million, a 56 percent drop from last year’s US$17.8 million on the auction market.
The volumes have dropped by 29 percent with burley standing at 8.3 million kilogrammes against 11.7 million kilogrammes in the previous year.
The average price for burley tobacco was at $1.51 per kilogramme last year while this year it is at $0.93 per kilogram.
Overall, revenue from tobacco has dropped by 35 percent with $119 million earned this year compared to $183.5 million realised during the same period last year.
On Tuesday, July 12, Kwacha was trading at K705 against $1 and the devaluation trend has been changing with -1.21 percent during the last week and -0.52 percent during the last month.
Historically, the Malawian Kwacha reached an all-time high of K756.41 to $1 in February of 2016 and a record low of K4.15 to $1 in October of 1992.
