Malawians are expected to feel the pinch as final decision to devalue the Kwacha is expected to be implemented Monday, May 7 2012. According to a highly placed source from one of the leading commercial banks, the government has given a go-ahead to devalue the currency, which both local and international community believe it is […]
Malawi needs $1 billion in aid next year and is weighing devaluing its currency to boost its economy, President Joyce Banda said. “Our economy is in a state of disaster,” Banda told reporters on Friday in Lilongwe, the capital, adding that the country’s leading manufacturing companies were unable to import raw materials because they lacked […]
Your Excellency, Please permit me to congratulate you on becoming Malawi’s president. I also wish to condole with you, and with your Malawian people, for the manner in which this position was made available to you. Your appointment to the office of Vice-President was thanks almost entirely to the late Bingu wa Mutharika. Your elevation to the Presidency […]
Malawi will devalue its currency, the kwacha, by 40 percent to unlock blocked aid by meeting conditions set by the International Monetary Fund, President Joyce Banda said. The government has resumed relations with the U.K. and held talks with the IMF, World Bank and U.S. after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, the leader who […]
The head of the African Development Bank said on Sunday he is willing to provide $45 million in budget financing for Malawi to help new President Joyce Banda revive the struggling economy. Speaking after meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka told Reuters he was determined to […]
For the past two years, the country has experienced the persistence deteriorating in its economy. The inflationary rate was reportedly to have hit the double digits which had caused the rise in prices. The shortage of fuel, forex, and sugar are some of the indicators to the fall of the country’s economy. Following the demise […]
Malawi’s finance minister Ken Lipenga expects suspended international aid to be restored under its new president, Joyce Banda, helping prop up a budget increasingly under strain after the previous president picked fights with overseas donors, Reuters reported. According to the Reuters report, Lipenga on Monday said former President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died on Thursday […]
First and foremost, we at the Nyasa Times wish to congratulate Her Excellency Joyce Hilda Mtila Banda on her ascendancy to high office of State President of the Republic of Malawi. We wish her all the best and we have enough reasons to trust her to perform this rather tough job very well. Secondly, we […]
The current foreign exchange situation in Malawi was triggered by a fall in tobacco earnings and donor aid inflows last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. An all important IMF Mission was in the country until Monday this week among other things, having economic intercourse with government officials on widespread illness the economy […]
Malawi President Bingu Wa Mutharika played host to a team of the Bretton Woods’ Institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Lilongwe where over an hour of talks seem to have started sending a positive signal over Malawi and her patiently-waiting donors. An IMF staff team, led by Tsidi Tsikata, concluded a two-week visit to […]
An IMF staff team, led by Mr. Tsidi Tsikata, concluded a two-week visit to Malawi today to conduct discussions for the 2012 Article IV consultation.1 The mission paid a courtesy call on His Excellency President Bingu wa Mutharika, and held discussions with Minister Ken Lipenga (Finance and Development Planning), Minister Peter Mutharika (Foreign Affairs and […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday that Malawi, which has seen donor aid dry up and revenue shrink, should cut spending and reiterated its call for the devaluation of the kwacha currency. A mission from the fund has been taking stock of the southern African country’s public finances, which are in dire straights […]
Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika should end a dispute with the World Bank and IMF to bring the country back from a worsening economic crisis, a visiting team of politicians from Britain, Malawi’s biggest aid donor, said on Wednesday. Mutharika, a former World Bank economist, last week snubbed a World Bank mission and has publicly […]
Devaluation is a Jargon that has become as popular as once was the “Mose wa lero” song, which nearly substituted the National Anthem. It is with the same enthusiasm, with which we sang the song that we debate over devaluation. What captivates my interest about my country is that whatever we decide to do, whether […]
Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika was at it again on Sunday with his temperate behaviour when he made a fiery speech in which he told off the donor community, threatening “war” against activists. The President again called on his DPP youth cadets to “discipline” his opponents when they protest against his government. Speaking when he […]
Malawi’s economic growth slowed more than expected to 6.0 percent last year, partly due to higher fuel prices and reduced income from lower tobacco prices, Finance Minister Ken Lipenga said on Thursday. The rate of growth was lower than government’s initial forecast of 6.9 percent after a 7.1 percent rise in 2010. “In the face […]
Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika is insisting that country’s currency, the Kwacha will not be devalued as demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and poked fun at Brettonwood institutions. Mutharika, an Indian trained economicst said on Sarurday on remarks aired live on state radio and television that devaluation “does not make sense(and) it will […]
President Bingu wa Mutharika over the weekend met some traditional chiefs in a bid to drum up support against International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s insistence to devalue the local currency, Kwacha. Mutharika held a two-day caucus at Sanjika Palace between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon where among other things he persuaded the chiefs on how to […]