Vice-President Michael Usi yesterday kept under wraps details of specific issues discussed during a closed-door consultation with officials on economic management, but said there was “critical progress”.
He gave the hint after a two-hour meeting with officials from Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) held at Capital Hill in Lilongwe.
The meeting focused on urgent strategies to stabilise the country’s economy, grappling with inflation, currency instability and growth setbacks.
Briefing the media after the discussions, Usi said the talks were “work in progress”, stressing the need for both short-term and long-term solutions to stabilise the economy.
He said: “We discussed a number of issues affecting our economy. This is work in progress and we will be meeting again to find solutions to the issues rocking the country’s economy.”
Attendees included Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda, Secretary to the Treasury Betchani Tchereni and Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe.
The meeting follows last week’s RBM Monetary Technical Policy Forum which called for tighter coordination between fiscal and monetary policies and realistic economic projections.
Meanwhile, the first session of RBM Monetary Technical Policy Forum ended last week with calls for the government to be realistic in economic projections and greater coordination between fiscal and monetary policies.
The session came on the back of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting last month which maintained the policy rate, the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the central bank, at 26 percent.
Last year, the government initially projected growth at 3.2 percent, but was forced to revise it to 1.8 percent following the disruptions caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
In a separate engagement, Usi yesterday also met with High Court of Malawi Commercial Division officials to address delays in opening the long-awaited Blantyre office.
According to a brief from the VP’s office, Usi expressed satisfaction with the coordination among stakeholders since his intervention on January 17, 2025.
During a tour of the building earlier this year, the Veep raised concerns over delays in its opening. At the time, High Court Judge Chifundo Kachale had indicated that 98 percent of the work had been completed, with only electrical installations remaining.
