Chakwera sound policies returns donor confidence

By Kondanani Chilimunthaka

It takes great minds of great wisdom to make great decisions in order to achieve great for their nations. Among such rare great minds is President Lazarus Chakwera whose policies have returned to Malawi the donor support that was suspended decades ago.

Soon after the World Bank Board of Executive Directors sitting in Washington approved the budgetary support package for Malawi on Tuesday, 12th December, 2023, the Bank went ahead to sign the agreement with Malawi at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe on Thursday, 14th December, 2023.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, President Chakwera said the budget support package will help the Government in many ways ranging from shocks of calamities like cholera, drought in the Northern Region, devastating Cyclone across the Southern region, Covid-19 and Tropical Storms Ana and Gombe which left the country’s economy on its sickbed.

“We have just witnessed the signing of the Grant Agreement of USD 137 million between the Government of Malawi and the Works Bank, representing the return of direct budgetary support and the restoration of investor confidence in Malawi’s economy, for it is not lost on me that the last time the World Bank provided budget support was a decade or so ago.

I have personally been to the World Bank Head office to meet the leadership there regarding our need for this partnership and the Managing Director herself has not only been here at Kamuzu Palace to make progress on these, but she also joined me in New York this past September when I hosted the Malawi Partners Conference to secure additional support for Malawi’s Post-shock reconstruction efforts. I am therefore grateful that the continuous engagements between Government of Malawi and the World Bank are finally yielding fruit. So through you, Mr. Nathan Belete and Mr. Hugh Riddel, I express my heartfelt thanks to the World Bank for its solidarity and partnership with Malawi” Said President Chakwera.

Further the President said his administration has taken bold steps to enact serious policy reforms for restoring the short-term macroeconomic stability and medium-term growth leading to the windfall the country has landed into.

In a telephone interview after the signing ceremony at Kamuzu Palace, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola Banda described the development as being happy moments for him as Minister of Finance and Malawi as a nation, saying it signifies donor confidence in President Chakwera led-adminstration.

Said Chithyola; “This speaks volumes of how people are looking at Malawi now”.

In the package, World Bank has released USD 80 million of which will immediately provide the Reserve Bank of Malawi with foreign exchange for building the country’s import cover, increasing production and private-sector growth for exports and protecting the poor and building the resilience.