Rising prices spur calls for a pay hike

Civil society groups in Malawi have called for a pay rise ahead of the budget next month to help them cope with the rising cost of basic commodities. Maize meal, meat, charcoal and house rentals have doubled in price over the last six months, according to a survey conducted by the NGO, Centre for Social Concern, based in the capital, Lilongwe. The cost of a monthly basic needs basket, comprising rentals, school fees, water, electricity and foodstuffs, has shot up from around 11,000 Malawian Kwacha (MK) (about US $101) in January to MK 13,500 (about $124) at the end of July. Average salaries in Malawi range from around MK900 (about $8.40) per month for a security guard, and between MK 1,800 (about $16.80) and MK 4,700 (about $43.90) a month for teachers, secretaries, nurses and police officers. "The salaries have remained unchanged in the past 10 years - no one can afford to provide a well-balanced nutritious meal to their families at these salaries," Tobias Jere of the centre told IRIN on Friday. "Rentals for a two-bedroom house in the urban areas almost doubled from MK 680 (about $6.20) in January to MK 1,500 (about $13.50) last month, because of the influx of people from the rural areas, which have been hit by a poor harvest. These people come looking for jobs in the urban areas to feed their families," he said. Poor rains have led to lower production, particularly in the south of the country, pushing up the price of maize, the country's staple food. A 50-kg bag of maize meal, which cost Malawians MK 500 in January, can now set them back more than MK 700, while the price of charcoal, used by poor people as cooking fuel, has increased by more than a MK 100 (about 90 US cents) since January. Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, is ranked at 165 out of 177 countries in the UN's Human Development Index, with 80 percent of its population classified as poor. Domestic debt stands at about $600 million dollars, while it owes foreign institutions about $2.9 billion. Concerns about corruption and over-expenditure by former president Bakili Muluzi's government led to the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the World Bank, and the governments of Britain and Denmark to suspend budgetary support.