The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has acknowledged that the poor performance for the 2019 tobacco season will negatively impact the country’s Terms of Trade (TOT) —the ratio of export prices to import prices-growth to be around neutral position in the ‘forecast horizon’.

If the price of exports goes down, you would expect TOT to go down too, all things being equal. If it were not for the fall in tobacco prices, our terms of trade would have improved. If it had worsened then trade deficit would have increased,” said RBM spokesperson Mbane Ngwira.

Meanwhile, various stakeholders are amidst implementing crop diversification and climate-smart programs. During the national symposium on agro-ecology in Lilongwe on Friday organised by Trocaire, the Irish Ambassador to Malawi, Gery Cunningham  said Malawi needs to triple its investment in climate smart agriculture if it is to achieve a meaningful and sustainable economic growth.