Reserve Bank of Malawi Exchange Rate API: Official MWK Rates as JSON

The Reserve Bank of Malawi publishes the official exchange rates that accounting, tax, and customs rules in Malawi reference — published official rates, not moving market prices. This guide shows how to pull them as JSON: via a REST endpoint or the zero-dependency rbm-exchange-rate npm package.

What the RBM publishes

• ~38 currencies with buy, middle and sell rates — one of the broadest official tables in the region.
• History back to 2016 in our API — a decade of official prints including the 2023 devaluation.
• The bank's own publication date on every response, so a rate is always citable.
• No gaps to trip over — weekends and Malawian holidays resolve to the most recent published rates and are flagged explicitly.

The Malawian kwacha's official record includes one of the decade's sharpest African devaluations — the 44% step of November 2023 — and the RBM table is the citable source for every rate on either side of it.

Why official rates, not market rates

A live mid-market feed answers "what is USD/MWK trading at right now?" — the right tool for checkouts and dashboards. But accountants, auditors, and tax authorities ask a different question: "which rate were you required to use for this date?" That answer comes from the Reserve Bank of Malawi's published rates, and it never changes after publication.

Get the latest rates (REST)

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/central-bank/rbm/latest" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

The response is the bank's most recent published data — every rate and the publication date. The latest rates are available on every plan, including the free tier (300 requests/month, no credit card).

The npm SDK

npm install rbm-exchange-rate

import { getRate, getLatestRates } from 'rbm-exchange-rate';

// One pair at the official RBM rate
const pair = await getRate('USD', 'MWK', { apiKey: 'art_live_...' });
console.log(pair.rate, pair.rate_date);

// The bank's full published table
const table = await getLatestRates({ apiKey: 'art_live_...' });
console.log(table.rate_date, table.rates.length);

Zero dependencies, TypeScript types included, and it runs anywhere fetch exists — Node 18+, Bun, Deno, and edge runtimes.

Historical rates for an invoice date

import { getRatesForDate, getHistory } from 'rbm-exchange-rate';

// The official rates for an invoice date — non-publication days return
// the most recent published date, flagged via published_on_requested_date.
const day = await getRatesForDate('2026-06-30', { apiKey: 'art_live_...' });

// Time series for one pair
const series = await getHistory(
  { source: 'USD', target: 'MWK', from: '2026-01-01' },
  { apiKey: 'art_live_...' }
);

Historical dates and time series need a paid plan; the latest rates stay free.

Published vs derived pairs

If the RBM does not print a pair directly, the API resolves it from the bank's published rates — an inverse, or a cross rate via MWK — and flags it derived: true with the method used. Official and computed values are never silently mixed, which is exactly the distinction an auditor will ask about.

A decade including the 2023 devaluation

From the mid-700s per dollar in 2016, through the November 2023 step to ~1,700, our archive holds every published table — ~280,000 official rates queryable by date, currency and rate type.

FAQ

Does the Reserve Bank of Malawi have an official exchange rate API?

The RBM publishes its official rates on its own site, and AllRatesToday serves the same published rates as clean JSON via REST or the rbm-exchange-rate npm package. The latest table is free.

How often do Reserve Bank of Malawi rates update?

Once per business day, across ~38 currencies with buying, middle and selling rates. Publication can trail by a day or carry over — the API always serves the most recent published table with its own date.

Can I get the RBM rate for a past date, like an invoice date?

Yes. The /central-bank/rbm/rates-for-date endpoint returns the official rates for any archived date. Non-publication days resolve to the most recent published date and are flagged, so your audit trail stays honest. Historical dates require a paid plan; latest rates are free.