Local cooking oil producers are yet to submit their proposed price reduction rates to trade and industry authorities amid the imminent removal of the value added tax – VAT on the commodity.
With the 16.5 percent VAT set to vanish effective 1 April, trade and industry ministry officials have been holding meetings with industry players who have effectively committed to adjust their prices downwards.
Addressing the media in Lilongwe today, Trade and Industry Minister Mark Katsonga stressed that in the event that the producers continue to raise prices, he will issues more import licenses so as to stabilise the market.
Meanwhile, expectations are rising among the public ahead of the expected drop in cooking oil prices.
The shelf price for the commodity has gone up by more than 100 percent since March 2020 a development that the manufactures largely attributed to the impact of the value added tax.
