Malawi: MERA Raises Petrol, Diesel Prices By Over 40%

Malawi has hiked petrol and diesel prices by more than 40 percent, effective Tuesday, 20 January 2026.

Previously, petrol sold at MKW 3,499 per litre, while diesel was priced at MKW 3,500 per litre.

However, the price of petrol has now been increased to MKW 4,965 per litre, while diesel has risen to MKW 4,945 per litre—representing increments of MKW 1,466 and MKW 1,445 respectively.

The significant price increases have triggered complaints from sections of the population, with many taking to social media platforms to express anger at the government.

In a statement issued by the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) and signed by its Board Chairperson, Lucas Kondowe, the regulator explained that the price hikes were aimed at sustaining the importation of petroleum products.

The Board noted that historically it had adopted an Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM), under which movements in pricing model parameters of more than five percent trigger automatic price adjustments.

However, according to MERA, the mechanism was abandoned over the past three years in favour of a fixed pricing regime, which proved to be commercially unsustainable.

“This led to significant trading losses, resulting in the inability to import adequate petroleum products and to remit economically important levies such as the Road Levy to the Road Fund Administration (RFA) and the Rural Electrification Levy to the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP) Fund,” the statement said.

MERA added that the situation contributed to the deterioration of roads nationwide and delayed the implementation of key MAREP projects across the country.

The statement further noted that the artificial pricing of petroleum products created arbitrage opportunities for smugglers, causing Malawi to lose scarce foreign exchange resources by effectively subsidising foreign demand for fuel, while also depleting the country’s Strategic Fuel Reserves (SFRs).

Under the reinstated APM, petrol and diesel qualify for price revision for January 2026, as the landed costs of both products have exceeded the ±5 percent trigger band.