Africa-Press – Malawi. Some of the country’s development partners have reiterated the need for Malawi to stay the course with economic reforms, as recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), if the local economy is to heal. They have further committed to resume direct budget support through World Bank programmes.
In an interview on the sidelines of a visit to Phalombe to appreciate implementation of 2022- 23 Lean Season Response Distribution, Iceland Head of Mission in Malawi Inga Dóra Pétursdóttir said support funds will go through the multi donor trust fund operated by the World Bank. She added that, for the local economy to heal, Malawi must go through some difficult financial reforms.
“We had to cut down all services but, as a nation, we were sticking to financial reforms and, after two years, things improved and now we are here in Malawi providing financial assistance. As such, my advice would be to show resilience, which Malawi is so good at, and endure this time that you have to go through this,” Pétursdóttir said.
In a separate interview, Norway Ambassador to Malawi Ingrid Marie Mikelsen said they are looking into various modules of contribution to the national budget.
“We work primarily in the education and health sectors where we assist the government in funding these very important sectors but we will also be funding the agricultural sector and we will look into different modalities, maybe later in the year. We could work with the World Bank for instance,” Mikelsen said.
Recently, the World Bank committed $50 million (over K51 billion) and $100 million (over K102 billion) towards the cholera fight and some recurrent expenditures in the health sector.
World Bank Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, Victoria Kwakwa, disclosed that the bank had agreed to step up engagements and support Malawi as the country navigates through difficult economic situations.
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