‘No 6 July this year’

The times are tough and the money is very little and therefore there will not be the usual pomp and glamour that 6 July comes with, for this year.

George Mkondiwa, Malawi Government’s Chief Secretary, has disclosed that there will be no Independence Celebrations this year as it is has been the normal case claiming the ailing economy as the reason.

He argued that the celebrations could cost government a lot of money-something he says does not go in line with the current economic stand of Malawi.

Instead there will just be national service of worship, a statement from Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology and Civic Education says.

However, In March this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made revelations that the country’s economy will attain growth ranging from between 3-4 percent this year.

Similarly, the World Economic Outlook Global estimates Malawi’s economic growth to rise from 3.1 percent in 2015 to 3.4 percent in 2016 and 3.6 percent in 2017, stating that global economic growth will be gradual and that will have an effect on Malawi as a developing country.

Among other things, the IMF says Malawi’s inflation will keep going down and the GDP for last year got placed at just 3 percent.

IMF said the country’s inflation has seen a 2 percent decrease to 23.4 percent in February 2016 from 25 percent in December 2015.

This was after the IMF hailed the sustained stabilization of the Malawi kwacha is due to the absorption of excess liquidity from the banking system by the Reserve Bank of Malawi, and fiscal discipline by the Malawi government and to prospects of the tobacco season.