Consumption of diesel and petrol jumped by 35 percent and 25 percent, respectively between the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial year, published Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) figures show.

The April 2022-March 2023 Mera Highlights Publication shows that in the 2022/23 financial year which ended in March this year, the country consumed 379.69 million litres of diesel, a jump from 254.16 million litres of diesel consumed in the 2021/22 financial year.

Petrol consumption, on the other hand, rose to 449.66 million litres in the 2022/23 financial year, an increase from 302.80 million litres the previous financial year.

Reads the report in part: “The significant increases in both diesel and petrol sales volumes suggest a growth in fuel consumption and demand during the specified periods.

“The country consumed more fuel than it imported, necessitating the use of fuel from strategic reserves. Importation challenges arose from the limited availability of foreign exchange.”

According to the data, diesel imports in the 2022/23 financial year totaled 261.59 million litres, a slight jump from 253.38 million litres in the 2021/22 financial year.

Petrol imports, on the other hand, totaled 282 million litres in the 2022/23 financial year, up from 280.14 million litres in the 2021/22 financial year.

Lately, Malawi has been reeling under a foreign exchange crisis which has resulted in erratic supply of fuel on the market.

Mera chief executive officer Henry Kachaje last month lamented that foreign exchange shortage is a burden to ensuring fuel availability in the country.

He said the country has experienced a drop of about 33 percent in fuel imports due to financing challenges.

Meanwhile, National Oil Company of Malawi and Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL) say they need $740 million (over K740 billion) for fuel imports this financial year.

PIL general manager Martin Msimuko is on record as having said that the company plans to import 280 million litres of fuel, but admitted that meeting the target will not be easy for the consortium due to foreign exchange scarcity.

He said: “That would require us to have about $270 million to buy the same and our monthly requirements are $22 million.

“With the forex shortage, we might not reach that target, but we are sure that the banks and all other stakeholders are also interested in not having fuel shortages.”

Meanwhile, government said it has devised several measures to ensure security of supply, including negotiating to pay suppliers in local currency.

Mera data shows that on average, Malawians use 845 000 litres of petrol and 834 000 litres of diesel daily.

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