Malawi government remains hopeful that the expedition of economic and public service reforms will yield back donor confidence and facilitate return of budgetary support from the country’s traditional donors that closed pipes due to financial maladministration of the previous regime.
This was said by President Professor Peter Mutharika on Thursday in Malta when he held an audience with Hugo Swire who is Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom.
“We are doing all we can to restore donor confidence and it is our hope that having done almost everything, donors will come back with budget support. We are also working towards making sure that the country’s program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is back on track in the first quarter of 2016. We hope the UK government will come to our support in all these initiatives and resume budget support to Malawi,” said Mutharika.
President Mutharika also commended the United Kingdom for remaining a vigilant friend to Malawi in times of great need. He singled out the help that UK rendered to Malawi during devastating floods that hit almost 25 percent of the country’s land mass early this year.
The Malawi leader further highlighted the important role that Malawi continues to play as a regional player within the SADC, COMESA and AU territories in view of political normalcy and peace keeping missions “My government is concerned with political turmoil in Burundi. You may wish to note that Burundi, alongside Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are the major contributors of asylum seekers/refugees in Malawi. We are therefore always concerned with political turmoils in these countries. We are, however, hopeful that regional and continental efforts with support from countries like the United Kingdom and other bodies will work expeditiously to bring peace and normalcy in the region,” he said adding that he believe political and diplomatic solutions are the best means to resolve the problems in the region.
The President, however, was quick to point out that Malawi disciplined forces cannot currently join new peacekeeping missions due to lack of equipment for such endeavours.
