Malawi hopes western donors will release funds frozen over the “Cashgate” scandal three years ago now that the […]
Aid
Legislators worked overtime on Tuesday to pass a total of 53 budgetary allocations in the proposed 2012/13 financial plan.
With 53 Votes passed, Malawi’s parliament is only remaining with four Votes to deal with and approve the $1.6 billion 2012 /13 national budget on Wednesday–crucial to seeking approval from the IMF board which meets next month.
Malawi’s key donors have pledged a total of around $496 million in budget support, an increase of 140 percent from last year when they pledged $210 million, Finance Minister Ken Lipenga said on Friday
“Total revenue and grants for the 2012/13 budget are projected at $1.6 billion made up of K270.39 billion and K124.08 billion ($496 million) in domestic revenues and grants respectively,” he said.
Malawi’s economy had been teetering on the brink of collapse after former president Bingu wa Mutharika picked a fight with major donors whose support accounts for about 40 percent of the budget.
The passing of the 2012/13 national budget by parliament will be crucial to the approval of the new IMF aid program for Malawi by the Fund’s executive board, a senior IMF official said on Wednesday.
Last week the Fund said it had reached a staff-level understanding with Malawi on an economic program for three that could be supported by a new Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement in the amount of SDR104 million (about US$157 million).
Malawi expects to see its GDP grow by 4.3 percent this year and 5.7 percent next year while […]
Alliance Capital Limited, independent portfolio and investment managers in Malawi, say it’s unlikey that the country’s ailing economy will […]
* Freeze in aid pushed Malawi eocnomy to the brink * Malawi wins support from Britain on Bashir […]
by Alexander Baum – EU Ambassador to Malawi
We have seen some radical changes in this country over the past weeks, haven’t we? From control to liberalisation, from arbitrariness to principles and rules, from distrust in private sector to incentives for the private sector, from accusing to inviting partners, from ignoring neighbours to courting them.
The turn around came quick, perhaps too quick to believe that it is already happening.
Turning words into action and visions into change is of course never easy – it takes time, persistence, patience, but more than anything else acceptance, ownership and participation by stakeholders, perhaps even a change in mentality.
There is no question that the course of the world is more than ever determined by economics. The happiness or unhappiness of populations is largely, though not only, determined by how their economic aspirations are fulfilled. The influence of nations is determined by their economic power, their ability to defend their interest by the size of their economy.
Malawi’s finance minster Ken Lipenga has said the International Monetary Fund has offered to write letters of comfort […]
Malawi should forget about getting balance of payment support from its key donors any time soon in the absence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, Alexander Baum, the EU envoy to Malawi, has said.
Malawi has been hit by an aid freeze since last year when it’s key donors withheld budget support aid and the IMF suspended the Extended Credit Facility programme due to concerns over Mutharika’s creeping autocracy, which has resulted in economic mismanagement.
Mabvutojobani 