World Bank has said there is improvement in the business environment due to tight monetary stance by the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
This was said by the World Bank Country Manager Greg Toulmin during knowledge sharing day on its seventh edition of Malawi Economic Monitoring (MEM) yesterday at Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe.
Toulmin asked Malawi to come up with proper policies in agricultural production in order to prevent risks related to climate change and build resilience to break out of the cycle of vulnerability.
“Malawi recent drought has yielded important lessons on the need for well-planned responses to shocks, this monitor recommends that safety nets should be more sensitive to shocks and for that there is a need to strengthen humanitarian programs,” he explained.
He went on to say that Malawi should replace interventions such as the farm input subsidy program (FISP), Maize purchases to stabilise the economy.
In his remarks, Acting Chief Director, Department of Economic Planning and Development Peter Simbani hailed the World Bank for the continuation of the tradition of publishing such informative documents that provide insight to the government on areas of policy focus for Malawi to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth.
Simbani said based on the analysis in the reports, many things will need to change for Malawi to move forward with both safety nets and response to climatic shocks through coming up with policies and implementation .
He therefore said government is eager and committed to reduce the vulnerability that comes due to climate change.
Resident Representative for International Monetary Fund (IMF) Jack Lee asked Malawi to avoid overexpenditure and come up with good policies that can stabilise the country’s economy.
