The National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has bemoaned high prices of locally produced goods saying they affect business operation and the economy at large.

NASME’s National Chairperson William Mwale told YFM that the business sector has not made enough progress in the past six months as compared to the same period in the previous year.

Among other factors, Mwale singled out the post-elections tension the country is going through currently saying it has affected business operations.

“We were hoping that businesses would pick up by this time because of the elections the country, but unfortunately it is the opposite.

“Business operators are not carrying out their endeavours freely because of the insecure atmosphere, talk of the demonstrations and the like,” he added.

Mwale said despite the stability in electricity and falling of the inflation rate, local producers have not made tremendous progress because many people preferred importing commodities from other countries due to their durability and cheaper price.

Mwale said: “It is disheartening to see people importing commodities leaving locally produced goods as they are expensive.”

“It is high time local producers manage the pricing of their goods, if at all the buy Malawi strategy is to be successful.”