Malawi misses Ifmis targets
Malawi has missed its targets on implementing the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (Ifmis), a development that might undermine compliance to Public and Finance Management reforms.
Information in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) country report released on Wednesday shows that Malawi missed the target to roll out a fully-functional Ifmis by the end of March 2023 and start publishing monthly reports by the start of the 2023/24 financial year which began in April.
The commitments were originally made in the memorandum of fiscal and economic policies agreed with the fund as part of the Staff-Monitored Programme with Limited Board Involvement (PMB) and will now be carried over into the conditionalities—the conditions the IMF prescribes in return for its loans—in the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) the fund’s board approved on November 15.
In the memorandum of fiscal and economic policies, the government, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) committed to roll out full functionalities of IFMIS to all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) by the end of March 2023 and start publishing monthly IFMIS-generated comprehensive fiscal reports by the start of the 2023/24 financial year in April 2024.
However, the government begun publishing Ifmis-generated reports last month, six months after the prescribed date.
The delay to implement the measures, which were devised to ensure that the new Ifmis delivers on accountability and execution in the execution of PFM reforms, sparked concerns over the country’s commitment to the fight against institutionalised corruption.
Mzuzu University economist Christopher Mbukwa said the delayed rollout of the Ifmis shows that the country is working at less capacity in implementing key reforms that are key to rooting out corruption such as controlling over-expenditure, producing timely financial reports and bank reconciliation, among other reform areas.
But economic analyst Bond Mtembezeka said Malawi should be able to fight corruption even without an automated system.
In a WhatsApp response, he said: “It’s about mindset change. The system is only as good as the presence of commitment of the people that use it. There is need to understand why the timelines haven’t been adhered to but the bottom line is that there has to be serious and genuine commitment by the government in all respects.”
Agreeing with Mtembezeka, anti-money laundering expert Jai Banda said in the absence of the Ifmis, the government should return to the basic PFM principles to help check against corruption and misprocurement.
He said: “It is the simple issues that can help the fight against corruption. Conducting due diligence on the prices quoted by industry averages and those of other competitors can help check against inflated prices in procurement contracts.”
Responding to the concerns over the delay, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola-Banda acknowledged the delays, but stressed that the government is back on track to meet the targets prescribed in the new memorandum of fiscal and economic policies.
When asked to explain what caused the delays, he said he could not provide the information at this time and did not elaborate further.
However, when delivering the mid-year budget statement before Parliament on Monday, he said the government, through the Accountant General’s department, will continue rolling out additional system functionalities such as contract management, revenue management, asset management and project systems.
Earlier in 2013, most of the country’s bilateral and multilateral donors withdrew their direct budget support following the extensive plunder of public funds in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The plunder was widely linked with the inefficiencies in the previous Ifmis.
