Policy monitor: Reserve Bank of Malawi holds at 26% with inflation at 27.3%

The Reserve Bank of Malawi's benchmark policy rate stands at 26%, unchanged at its most recent review. This briefing sets out the data behind the stance, drawn from CBAN's Malawi dataset.

Headline consumer price inflation is running at 27.3% year on year in the latest reading tracked by CBAN, down from 28.9% in the prior reading. That puts the real policy rate — the benchmark rate minus headline inflation — at roughly -1.3 percentage points, meaning policy remains negative in real terms.

On the currency side, the Malawian kwacha trades near 1,751 per US dollar, down 5.8% since the start of the year. Gross official reserves stand at roughly $0.6 billion. Exchange-rate pass-through into consumer prices is one of the strongest inflation channels in most African economies, which is why these two indicators move together in policy deliberations.

The RBM's statutory mandate: Price stability and a sound financial system, supporting the government's broader economic objectives.

The wider economy is growing at around 3.2% a year on the estimates CBAN tracks, with nominal output of about $11 billion. Growth, inflation and the exchange rate form the three-way trade-off every Monetary Policy Committee weighs.

The next scheduled monetary policy decision is 9 September 2026. CBAN tracks every African MPC date in the economic calendar, and this briefing is refreshed as new official data is released.