President Peter Mutharika has pleaded with the World Bank to consider giving Malawi additional support, saying government needs $220 million (aboit K385 billion) to fix the ailing economy.
The President made the call yesterday when World Bank vice-president for Eastern and Southern Africa Ndiame Diop made a courtesy call on him at Mtunthama State Residence in Lilongwe.
In an interview after the meeting, Mutharika, who has taken over an economically distressed government after winning the September 16 General Election, said although the bank has recently provided Malawi with $45 million (about K78.7 billion) for maize imports, the country still needs support to stabilise issues of forex, fuel, fertiliser and food.
He said: “We have agreed with them that they will assist with foreign exchange through projects like Mpatamanga and social cash transfers, which will help to improve the forex situation.”
In his remarks, Diop said the bank will help to fix the country’s foreign exchange issues which he described as key to solving other challenges like fuel, fertiliser, food and pharmaceutical imports.
However, he highlighted the need for Malawi to implement austerity measures that were announced last week to ensure economic recovery and stability.
Diop said: “We had successful discussions with government. We believe that when we assist on foreign exchange, then we are also helping to solve the other issues as the forex will be used to import fuel, fertiliser and medicine.
“We believe that the austerity measures are necessary although they will bring some pains.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha said the two sides have agreed that the World Bank’s support will not come with devaluation of the kwacha, adding that past experience shows that devaluations do not solve Malawi’s foreign exchange issues.
“We have agreed with them that devaluation is not a solution, so we will deal with the causes of foreign exchange scarcity but not to devalue and they have understood our position,” he said.
Apart from the World Bank’s $45 million for maize imports, government also secured $3 million (about K5.2 billion) for the purchase of rice and other food items from China and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
According to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committe (Mvac) Report, four million people are at risk of hunger in the 2025/26 consumption period, representing 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 18.5 million.
The Mvac annual food security assessment report released shows that the current projection represents a slight decline compared to the previous consumption period when about six million people faced hunger.
However, the number is an increase from 2.9 million people authorities estimated would face hunger between May and September this year.
The report states that Malawi’s national maize production for the 2024/25 agricultural season is below the country’s five-year average.
