As Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda will be presenting the 2025/26 National Budget tomorrow, stakeholders want a budget that balances borrowing needs and provides tax relief to ease the cost of living.
Some of the key stakeholders like Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) and Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn) indicated that forth coming national budget address rising cost of living and doing business due to forex scarcity.
In an interview on Tuesday, CfSC economic governance programme officer Agnes Nyirongo said there is need for the budget to address forex shortages and high import duties as a way of tackling rising cost of living.
She said: “The budget is coming at a time both businesses and consumers are facing the worsening cost of living because of soaring commodity prices and increasing cost of production and we believe the budget addresses this.
“For instance, most traders like vendors believe the prices are, apart from forex scarcity, being affected by high import duty that is imposed on Kaunjika for instance, and we believe removing the duty would also reduce the prices.”
In a separate interview, Mejn executive director Bertha Phiri said her organisation is eager to see how the budget will treat the issue of growing public debt, and update on the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme and recovery plan.
She said: “Our expectations are many, especially on the issues like debt position –how will they manage the growing debt, what is the status of the ECF programme, at the same time it is important to make fuel prices cost reflective.”
Phiri also highlighted the need for Treasury to be clear on the economic recovery plan noting that the economy is still not ticking while also emphasizing on exchange rate challenges.
In a separate interview, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament chairperson Mark Botomani said some of the current economic challenges emanate from lack of implementation of the budgets and highlighted the need to prepare implementing agencies on time for the forthcoming budget to work.
“The success of any budget is seen in its implementation. We have legal instruments such as the Public Financial Management Act that guide all budget holders as they implement the budget.
“What PAC has experienced in the recent past is that some controlling officers deliberately disregard these legal instruments in the implementation of the budget; hence, making them susceptible to abuse of public resources,” Botomani said.
Reserve Bank of Malawi Governor MacDonald Mafuta Mwale earlier said the bank has finalised the process of formulating measures aimed at crushing the parallel market foreign exchange supply which will be announced in the budget.
Speaking after a closed door meeting with key stakeholders in Lilongwe on Monday, Mafuta Mwale described the policy as key to controlling forex supply on the black market and is a key strategy to price stabilisation.
He said: “We have discussed with relevant stakeholders and now we are ready to start implementing the measures that we have come up with.
“I will not disclose the measures because some of them are still undergoing clearance from our legal minds and others will be announced in the budget, which the Minister of Finance will present this Friday.”
