“In the spirit of promoting girl child education, government has listened to the contributions that came from various stakeholders and has consequently removed duty and excise tax on sanitary pads,” Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe said earlier this week.

Girls who can't afford sanitary pads often miss school during their periods.

The minister also announced that value added tax would no longer have to be paid on cooking oil and tap water in a bid to help Malawians with rising prices and access to drinking water.

The changes take effect from Friday 1 April.