Malawi tobacco earnings drop by 78 percent

LILONGWE (Maravi Post) Malawi's current foreign exchange earnings from its chief crop, tobacco, have fallen by 78. percent, Finance Minister Ken Kandodo said Friday, painting a gloomy picture of projected total earnings.
"At this rate, our projected earnings from tobacco have been reduced from $450 million to about $300 million," Kandodo said when he unveiled the 2011/12 "Zero deficit budget" in parliament.
He said as of May end, total volume of tobacco traded was 34.4 million tonnes, against 78.95 million tonnes traded last year at the same time, representing a 56.5 percent drop in volume. Continued