By Staff Writer:
There is hope of improved fuel supply into the country as the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) has secured US$68.8 million from local and international commercial banks for the procurement of fuel from next week.
Acting NOCMA CEO Hellen Buluma disclosed this when she appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism.
Buluma told the Committee that NOCMA has entered into an agreement with the Bank of Bardea for a US$50 million financing, US$10 million with the National Bank of Malawi and US$8.8 million with the NBS Bank.
Buluma has further told the committee the company is in talks with Standard Bank Malawi for an US$18 million possible financing agreement which would be made available by Monday next week.
The acting CEO believes once all this money is made available to the company the fuel situation in the country will normalize.
Meanwhile Buluma has told the Committee that she is alarmed with the recent rise in fuel consumption in the country.
She has told the Committee that currently the country is using 1 million litres of fuel a day costing US$1.3 million.
She has since attributed the situation to panic-buying especially in Lilongwe where the commodity has become scarce.
In a related development Buluma has not told the committee the amount of fuel the country has in stock for security reasons.
For the past weeks people have been scrambling to purchase fuel especially in the Central region despite authorities including President Lazarus Chakwera assuring the availability of the commodity.
