Mutharika pleads with World Bank for Malawi support

Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Friday met the visiting World Bank mission visiting the country in Lilongwe and pleaded to the team to support the country.

Mutharika said he briefed the team, which in the country to assess the economic situation, about “the triple problems that have rocked our economy which are; Cashgate, Donor flight and the devastating Floods.”

The President in a statement posted on his Facebook page said informed the team on the commitments his government have made to deal with the situation and heal the nation.

“I talked about the various reforms we are undertaking such as the Public Service Reform Programme as well as the reforms we are championing to tighten our Financial Management Systems to ensure that the unfortunate incident of Cashgate never happen again,” Mutharika added.

The Malawi leader told the team that Malawi needs the bank’s support and the support from other multilateral and bilateral donors for its recurrent budget in the short term to enable her achieve the goals set this year.

Mutharika said the response he got from the discussions is “promising.”

He stated: “I trust that the team’s visit and talks held with a wide range of officials in both public and private sector will help the delegation to put our case in the appropriate context, and to be fully informed about our strengths, opportunities and challenges to be able to speak for us when they return.”

Meanwhile, Malawi’s official news agency Mana reports that a World Bank missionexpressed happiness to see that the money they gave to Malawi for various projects were utilized to alleviating poverty.

The team leader of the delegation Allister Smith from Canada made the remarks on Friday in Salima after they visited two projects funded through Local Development Fund and one project under the Agriculture Productivity Programme (APPSA).

“We are happy to be here and to see that the financial support you receive for various projects from the World Bank have been used accordingly,” said Smith.

Smith further said that their trip had also given them opportunity to appreciate the problems which people were facing in the country.

“Here we are able to see for ourselves the impact of the support to the people and the country and indeed the gaps that remain as the country continue its effort to alleviate poverty amongst its people,” said Smith.

Smith said that the visit has also helped the directors to have a clear picture of the situation in Malawi; which will be vital on their decision making on future support to the country.