According to Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor Dalitso Kabambe, the current forex scarcity in some commercial banks of the country, is seasonal.

Kabambe outlined that foreign exchange reserves slightly go down around this time and pick up after the tobacco marketing season, which is the norm.

Since the past 2 weeks, dollar stocks in commercial banks have been on the decline, as commercial banks are now trading the Kwacha between K740 to K745 to a dollar. On the other hand, A monetary policy report released by RBM has forecasted that the exchange rate of the local currency will be stable this year.

Confidence in the above has been attributed to adequate foreign exchange reserves, as figures on the report show that gross official reserves rose to $846.6 million representing 4.05 months of imports in December 2019 from $656.0 million representing 3.14 months of imports in September 2019. Contrary to the Reserve Bank of Malawi’s prediction that the local currency’s exchange rate will be stable, Nico Asset Managers says that the Malawi Kwacha will depreciate against other foreign currencies this year.