Macroeconomic indicators have registered a mixed performance in the first half of 2019 as headline inflation, seen at 8.9% in May 2019, has been within a single digit band. On the other hand, interest rates have been going down after the Reserve Bank of Malawi slashed its policy rate twice this year alone to stand at 13.5%. Such ups and downs have gotten mixed reactions in the business environment.

The policy rate drop negatively affected banking firms, as Standard Bank attributed its 13% profit loss to the Reserve Bank of Malawi’s policy rate cut, that lowered income, from K12 billion in 2017 to K10.5 billion in 2018. In May, businesses stood still as the pre/post election era affected sales, one way or another.

Malawi Stock Exchange-listed National Bank of Malawi Chief Executive Officer, Macfussy Kawawa, said the Kwacha slip might have offset some gains registered in the first half. “We can characterise the period as one where interest rates dropped and inflation was stable. However, being an election year, a lot of decisions pended therefore the kind of activity that we would ordinarily see in the first half of the year wasn’t to be true.”