The National Statistical Office (NSO) says it will engage in contact and dialogue with the companies which were reluctant to give audit information in the Economic Activities Census.

NSO Public Relations Officer Kingsley Manda said although the Statistics Act mandates them to impose penalties to such companies, they are want to well-inform them on the significance of the census before taking any legal action.

NSO noted with a concern that some companies have been shunning away from giving full details of their companies although during the start of the census many stakeholders including the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) urged its members to be supportive of the survey.

According to NSO Public Relations Officer Kingsley Manda,  the tendency has got capacity to compromise the results of the survey. However, Manda confided to YFM IN interview that although they finished the survey in the last month of April, plans are underway to engage the non-compliance companies in a dialogue for the accuracy and credibility of the results for the census.

Manda futher said the results of census are yet to be released as they are still finalizing and assembling collected data.

The survey will give a clear picture of business performance which will be used as one of the tools in lobbying and advocacy programmes.

For the first time, National Statistical Office rolled out a census on economic activities in 2018 following important economic reforms that have been undertaken since 2012 to address Malawi’s macroeconomic and structural imbalance.