One US dollar, at the bank, is worth approximately 290 kwacha, depending on the day. If you want a small Snickers bar, it will set you back about 325 kwacha, but that is a luxury few in this country enjoy. Being subsistence farmers, many Malawians survive on zero kwacha a day so, again, not much of a reference point. Some of the items and prices I purchase regularly:
2500 kwacha=a fairly common meal price that caters to the upper class and ex-pats
350 kwacha=traditional Malawian lunch
300 kwacha=a kilo of fresh, local strawberries
150 kwacha=most minibus fares
100 kwacha=an apple or orange, five tomatoes, or three medium red onions
20 kwacha=a single Malawi-produce cigarette, a small bunch of cilantro
Are there other goods or services about which anyone is curious about pricing?
For my own personal uses, I would like to know how much one 1995 Honda CRV with 95,000 kilometers costs. Also, what's a kilometer and if this country was imperialized by the British, why do they use the metric system? Also, is imperialized a word?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant question! Answer: 1.4 million kwacha. Will you, dear Ian, have the wherewithal to recheck this post?
ReplyDeleteAbout the metric: The vehicle is from Japan, hence the kilometers. Still, metric is used here even though they were imperialized (yes!) by the British because the metric system is better. That was easy.