Foreign exchange runs out

Malawi, which depends on its tobacco exports for most of its foreign exchange earnings, has run out foreign currency, media reports said. Officials of the country's two major banks were quoted as saying that there was hoarding among speculators. "The market is drying up and banks do not have enough foreign currency as sellers are sitting on the US dollar to sell at a higher price later," George Partridge of National Bank said. The Malawi Kwacha has sunk from 47 to the dollar in April to 55 to one dollar at a time when tobacco sales were still in progress. Tobacco exports this year have remained uncertain because of poor prices offered at auction floors.