Germany commits K97bn for development
The government of Germany has called for efficient, transparent and accountable management of public resources as the two countries strengthen their bilateral cooperation following a commitment of 113 million euro (about K97 billion) in development support.
Speaking at a meeting in Lilongwe on Wednesday, German deputy head of mission and head of international cooperation Thomas Staiger said transparency and accountability are the basis for any cooperation.
“I think we owe it to the German taxpayer and also the Malawian taxpayer that the taxes are spent in the most effective way possible. We will specifically support the government through the areas of public finance management,” he said.
In his remarks, Secretary to the Treasury Ben Botolo said public finance management (PFM) framework, as one of the components supported by the German government, will strengthen the accountability systems including the office of the accountant general and the Integrated Financial Management System (Ifmis).
“One of the components in this agreement is to assist the Malawi government on the [power] interconnector and they are providing another 23 million euro [about K19 billion] together with the World Bank to ensure that Malawi is connected to Mozambique. All the issues of how we are awarding the contracts and doing the procurements are transparent,” he said.
He said that for procurement of Ifmis, government is contributing $10 million (about K7.3 billion) to a $2 million (about K1.46 billion) financing from the World Bank.
Botolo has since said in the next budget, government will use its own resources to implement Ifmis at both the central and district level.
The bilateral cooperation will continue to focus on focal areas of health and social protection, basic education as well as private sector development in rural areas in line with the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III (MGDS III). n
