MALAWIAN President Bakili Muluzi has ruled out placing a ceiling on the price of maize after costs on the staple product trebled earlier in the week due to a food shortage. “(There is) nothing the government can do to intervene on the prices,” Muluzi told reporters on arrival from an investment conference in Uganda. On Monday, Malawi’s grain parastatal hiked the prices of the staple food from 3,8 dollars to 13 dollars for a 50 kilogram sack of maize. The starchy grain is ground to powder and prepared into a thick porridge called mealy meal, and remains a sensitive commodity whose pricing has political implications. Facing shortages caused by floods early this year in the southern parts of the country, Malawi has imported 180 000 metric tonnes of maize from South Africa and the United States to ward off hunger. -AFP
Wednesday, August 22, 2001