AfDB budgetary support to Malawi excites Mwanamvekha: ‘IMF has injected a positive signal’
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Joseph Mwanamvekha has said Treasury is excited that African Development Bank (AfDB) has confirmed the possibility of providing budgetary support to Malawi in this financial year.
Mwanamvekha said the indication by International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the country’s economy is on track has injected a positive signal from cooperating partners, including AfDB.
The country’s purse keeper said through the stabilisation budgetary support from the IMF, Malawi has shown to the world that “we are managing our resources prudently.”
He said: “ We are making sure that there is value for money to benefit citizens; hence, we expect the budget support will be provided.”
Mwanamvekha said he recently met and discussed with the president of the pan-African bank on the budget support issue.
AfDB acting director general for Southern African Region Development and Business Delivery Service Josephine Ngure confirmed in Lilongwe on the sidelines of the loan and grant signing agreements with the Malawi Government that AfDB has been waiting for a positive signal from IMF.
Ngure that a high-level team will be visiting the country in two weeks’ time to discuss the issue further along with other development support possibilities.
“The fact that we have positive reports coming out of the discussions with the IMF is encouraging for us.
“We have beyond the IMF programme other criteria we look at internally when we are processing budgetary support operation. Those are the things we will be reviewing when our high- level mission arrives in the country,” she said.
Ngure said AfDB is encouraged by the progress that has been reported on the IMF programme.
In 2013, donors stopped direct budget support to Malawi after the exposure of looting of taxpayer’s money dubbed Cashgate in which civil servants and businesspersons connived to loot about K24 billion through Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis).
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Ndizonyadila izizi?? This is like Celebrating borrowing money from a man who sleeps with your wife! Wake up Malawi! We are capable of doing it without ngongole
We were in HIPC and we all cried for clearance of toxic loans hoping that a clean slate would give us a good beginning. Here were are again. Boma losaopa ngongole ili. Money lenders dont mind how you use borrowed money. Its not in their interest as along as you agree to pay back. The levels of borrowing we have can not and will not sustain development. Our children will as Julius Malema said “defecate and urinate at the graveyards of this leadership” in anger of the economic pain they caused on Malawians.
MBAVA IZI