It has been a happier place since Joyce Banda took over as Malawi’s president after the sudden death of Bingu wa Mutharika almost a year ago. Ms Banda, previously the vice-president, has made sure she did not emulate her increasingly dictatorial predecessor, who reminded Malawians of the era before democracy arrived in 1994. She has cut down on presidential limousines and jets and has mended relations with aid-giving foreign governments such as Britain’s, whose ambassador was kicked out after a leaked cable revealed a dim view of Mr Mutharika. “We can assemble without the police interfering and we can criticise the government again,” says Dan Nyirenda, a journalist.

The government is functioning better. Civil society is robust, says John Makina, who heads Oxfam Malawi. “Corruption is mainly people asking for a Fanta”, he says: mostly small-scale by regional standards. Costly subsidies for fertiliser have kept farmers happy and most Malawian stomachs full enough. On the whole, Ms Banda still wins plaudits.

Some, however, say she is squeezing space in the media for opposition views. Others worry that food handouts known as “Banda maize” (since the president’s name is marked on them) are unaffordable: they go to 80% of the population. Most worrying were the arrests earlier in March of several former and current ministers, accused of plotting to stop Ms Banda taking power on Mr Mutharika’s death. They include the head of the rival Democratic Progressive party who is due to run against the president in elections in May 2014.

Such criticisms may get sharper because Malawi, which remains one of the poorest countries in the world, is in the economic doldrums. On the advice of international institutions, the government devalued Malawi’s currency a month after Ms Banda became president and let it float. Its value nearly halved and sent inflation racing. Foreign currency is running out. Importers of fuel are unable to get credit, causing shortages. To make things worse, exports of tobacco, the main crop, are bringing in less cash.

The government still relies overwhelmingly on foreign donors and farming. “To get money, we will plant a number of crops that will grow in six months and are in demand on the global market,” says Goodall Gondwe, the minister for economic planning and development—speaking before his arrest. It is a risky policy, since Malawi relies for irrigation on rain, which is not always forthcoming.

With the credit crunch bearing down, longer-term development is still sluggish. Half of Malawians live on less than $1 a day. More than a tenth of the population are said to have HIV/AIDS, though the figure used to be higher. Land is scarce for the subsistence farmers who still make up most of Malawi’s 16m people. Education is not yet compulsory and is free only at primary level. Ms Banda has a long way to go.