Malawi Tourism Council (MTC) an umbrella body for tourist operators in the country, has been engaging the government to bail out the tourism sector to recover as it has been the hardest hit by the Covid 19 pandemic.
The council has expressed worries for the tourism sector being overrun of support in the 2020/21 national budget which has been estimated at K2.2 trillion which in turn it says could have boosted it's recovery.
According to a statement released recently by the MTC, the board is in awe as to why the budget was silent on the support for the tourism industry, which is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic and has lost more than 35,000 jobs since March.
"More than ever, the industry, which makes substantial contribution to the economy, needs a swift government intervention while realising that full recovery for the industry is projected for a couple of years or longer." Reads part of the statement.
It is clear that players in the tourism sector are advocating for the suspension of pay as you earn (PAYE), temporary waiver on fixed utility bills such as electricity, suspension of interest on bank loans against a revised interest rate, suspension of withholding tax payments, postponing payment of licences and permits on food and beverages.
Recently, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture, Isaac Katopola admitted that the request by the MTC officials for government to bail them out was made through the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
He said the request mainly focused on two areas either to make a once-off payment or pay part of the salaries of compliant tourism operators for at least three months to ease possible closures of companies but stressed that the government has to look where to get the finances.
Said Katopola, : "Another request was on possible cuts on utility charges that are calculated based on maximum demand, this is still being considered but the covid 19 business challenges and possible solutions are like unchartered waters that may take time to deal with."
The economy has lost about K40.5 billion in the tourism sector between April and June and needs about K7.3 billion monthly as bail out to cutter for staff bills.
No comments:
Post a Comment