Malawian parastatals report huge losses for 2008

• Source: Xinhua
• [10:34 July 09 2009]
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Seven parastatals in Malawi, an inland country in southern Africa, posted a total loss of 3.55 billion kwacha (about 23.6 million US dollars) last year and only three made profits, according to the 2009 annual economic report released on Wednesday.

Malawi Housing Corporation, Southern Region Water Board and Lilongwe Water Boards are the only ones that posted profits of 88 million kwacha (about 587,000 dollars), 156 million kwacha (about 1.05 million dollars), and 262 million kwacha (about 1.75 million dollars) respectively, according to the report.

The report said that among others, Escom, the country's largest telecommunication firm, registered a net loss of 902 million kwacha (about 6.01 million dollars), while Air Malawi reported 109 million kwacha (about 726,000 dollars), Blantyre Water Board 93 million kwacha (about 620,000 dollars), Central Region Water Board 246 million kwacha (about 1.64 million dollars) and Northern Region Water Board 521 million kwacha (about 3.47 million dollars) respectively.

The airline's 109 million kwacha loss was a result of heavy equipment costs while grounding of Boeing 737-500 in December 2007 also posed a serious challenge making service delivery almost impossible, the report said.

When attending a parliament meeting last week, Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika and Finance Minister Ken Kandodo warned that they will deal with non performing parastatals.