By Wezzie Gausi
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has given Malawi $23 million budgetary support, the Treasury has confirmed.
The budgetary support to Malawi is targeting the agriculture sector.
In an interview, Secretary to the Treasury Betchani Tchereni said the funds had come at the right time as an injection into the economy.
He said the government was grateful to the AfDB for the faith, trust and belief in the economic management of the Malawi Government.
“While the signing of the agreement is being arranged in New York by the State President Lazarus Chakwera and President of the AfDB, it must be clear that these resources will help towards creating resilience, especially in the agriculture sector, and purchase of maize to deal with the food production gap and price speculations.
“As a country, we are doing everything possible to have enough resources for continued development across Malawi. At the very same time, we are making sure that we are able to settle our debts,”Tchereni said.
Economist Marvin Banda said the support would help provide much needed relief and help in the implementation of the national programme to reform the agriculture sector and strengthen resilience to climate change with emphasis on flood and drought areas which occur biannually.
He said the Agricultural Productivity and Marketing Programme is a vehicle for economic growth by providing input substitutes and value added export products which would ensure food security within Malawi.
“It has to be mentioned that there seems to be a disconnect between what people are experiencing on a daily basis and the international support the nation is securing. Most people are still dissatisfied and disgruntled by the continued rising of prices that they question how these agreements are affecting them.
“A litany of agreements has been made yet the economy is still in a precarious position where we are walking a very tight fiscal rope that it makes people wonder if the budget is truly being adhered to.
“The first half report will be of great interest to see how government expenditure has translated to economic growth and to what percentage of GDP it is contributing,” Banda said.
In August, the World Bank’s International Development Association also approved $55 million for the country to help in disaster management.
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