The Public Appointments Committee (Pac) of Parliament Wednesday confirmed MacDonald Mafuta Mwale as the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).
On Monday, President Lazarus Chakwera appointed Mafuta Mwale, who was then RBM Deputy Governor for Economics, to become the new RBM chief, replacing Wilson Banda, who had led the central bank since 2020.
As required by law, the holder of the office of Governor of the central bank must be confirmed by Parliament.
Pac confirmed Mafuta Mwale after questioning him for nearly an hour.
In an interview, Mafuta Mwale said that, among other priorities, he would focus on working with the Treasury to explore how the central bank can incentivise Malawi’s productive and export sectors.
“There are ways in which the Reserve Bank can intervene. Largely, as you know, monetary policy is concerned with demand management but I believe demand management alone cannot be sufficient.
“We need a situation where we also incentivise production units to increase output.
“For Malawi, the issue is whether we can produce and whether we can export. You can see all these challenges; foreign exchange is coming in but it is not enough. We need to generate more. That is really the core of the problem,” he said.
Mafuta Mwale holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a Master of Science in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Nottingham, England, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science from the University of Malawi.
According to the RBM Act, the governor is responsible for the day-to-day management of the bank and is answerable to the board for his actions and decisions.
Earlier, Pac appointed the Member of Parliament for Machinga South Constituency, Grant Ndecha, as its new chairperson, replacing Joyce Chitsulo, who is now Deputy Minister of Local Government.
Pac also appointed Bester Awali, the lawmaker for Zomba Central, as its new deputy chairperson.
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