Donor support to stabilize Malawi's economy -Lipenga
Finance Minister Ken Lipenga says the donor support that has been flowing in, coupled with Malawi government’s initiative of food distribution will help stabilize the economy.
Lipenga made the observation on Wednesday on the sidelines of the signing of the MK4.5bn Framework Agreement for the Debt Relief and Development Contract between Malawi and France which took place at Finance Ministry offices in the capital.
He said it was very imperative for Malawians to know and appreciate that much as there is “no magic formula” to get the country’s economy back on track overnight, there is much progress towards the realization of a stable economy.
“We have had a lot of donor funding coming in and just recently we signed a financial agreement with the EU towards budget support,” said Lipenga, adding, “This, plus more funding that we are getting from development partners, is helping in getting our economy stable.”
He further said Malawi had started utilizing the Preferential Trade Area (PTA) Bank, the financial arm of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) which he said was a good development to the country’s economy.
The Minister also said that by embarking on food distribution to areas that are hard hit by hunger; and by releasing maize to ADMARC outlets the flow and price of maize would be stabilized.
“There is no magic formula of doing it but no serious government would do it differently – in fact doing it differently would mean doing nothing and this could have taken the economy to recession: we all know that,” said Lipenga.
The Framework Agreement for the Debt Relief and Development Contract that Malawi signed with France on Wednesday is aimed at supporting the mining sector by carrying out geological surveys to determine the country’s mineral potential.
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