Gondwe, Chuka in talks with IMF
Malawi’s Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe and his monetary policy counterpart Charles Chuka arrived in the United States of America’s capital Washington, DC on Monday and Sunday, respectively, where they are expected to hold talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials over the fund’s supported programme with Malawi, the Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
Gondwe leads a lean delegation from Malawi to the 2014 joint annual meetings by IMF and the World Bank meetings aimed at discussing issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, global financial stability and job creation, among others.
The meetings serve as an opportunity for Malawi to restore the ravaged good will from major donors under the Common Approach to Budget Support (Cabs) who froze direct aid to the Malawi Government after revelation of massive looting of public funds or Cashgate.
Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development spokesperson Nations Msowoya said in an interview on Sunday that apart from the annual meeting—which will take place from October 10 to 12—what is even more important for the Malawi delegation would be the side meetings where detailed issues about Malawi will be tabled.
“The meetings will help us review recent economic developments, discuss government priorities as well as take stock of our programme with the fund, the ECF,” he said.
The Malawi delegation participation at the annual meetings comes at a time the domestic economy is still shrouded in economic uncertainty characterised by rising food inflation and the implementation of a 2014/15 fiscal plan weighed down by a budget deficit of K107 billion, threatening to trigger high interest rates through huge borrowing by government.
It also comes at a time Malawi’s performance under the ECF has created mixed reactions on account of the country’s failure to meet targets on net domestic assets of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) and on net domestic borrowing by government, according to IMF’s recent assessment.
The IMF-World Bank annual meetings bring together several government officials, the private sector, civil society representatives and other interested observers to discuss economic and financial issues affecting the globe.
Also featured during the meetings are sideline regional briefings, press conferences and many more side events focused on the global economy.
