Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) has called for quick and practical solutions to stabilise foreign exchange supply as well as minimising climate change shocks to the economy.
Speaking at the close of the association’s annual lakeshore conference in Mangochi on Friday, Ecama acting president Bertha Bangara- Chikadza said there is need to deal with urgent challenges that have subdued economic performance head on.
She said the conference recommended the need for proper modelling on foreign exchange issues, climate change shocks and fiscal policy challenges such as government over-expenditure and piling public debt currently at about K15 trillion or 81 percent of gross domestic product.
Said Bangara Chikadza said: “Models were tried and implemented, but we need something urgent that can stabilise the foreign exchange situation.
“Secondly, in our modelling, we also need to understand the impact of climate change effects and by understanding the impact, we will be able to create solutions to bring the required results.”
She said issues such as how climate change can affect productivity in the agriculture sector can be modelled so that authorities know climatic shocks and the degree of impact prior to their occurrence.
“This will help to understand how our agricultural productivity can be reduced from such shocks, but also find measures on how we can reduce the effects,” said Bangara-Chikadza, who also teaches economics at University of Malawi.
To achieve this, she called for investment in research using government research centres and universities and fast-tracking the formulation of regulation for the carbon credit market, which remains largely untapped.
In a statement, Ecama also said there is need for fiscal policy holders to ensure prudent spending that will resemble the state of the economy, which stressed by over-expenditure.
Meanwhile, Ecama said that unlike in the past, this year all the talking points were being documented to ensure reference and continuity of policy dialogue.
During the three-day conference under the theme ‘Economic priorities for vulnerable economy’, keynote speaker economist Steve Dunga of Northwest University in South Africa said Malawi can easily transform if formulated policies are well implemented.
“Malawi can be the next big thing if it dedicates efforts on policy implementation as the country has so many brilliant policy blueprints,” he said.
In his address, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda said Ecama should focus on policy theories that are home-grown and respond to the needs of the economy instead of copying economic models from elsewhere.
He said: “Economic theories that do not provide solutions to our challenges are not worth pursuing.
“We need home-grown solutions to fix our economy and I believe we have people with vast knowledge to do that through this conference.”
Chithyola Banda said despite the economic challenges, with proper coordination and the right tools it is possible to fix the challenges and develop the country.
The conference was held from November 13 to 15 2024 and attracted at least 250 delegates from both public and private sectors, including academia.
