President Peter Mutharika says his government has already begun lifting Malawi out of poverty.
Mutharika was speaking Sunday when he received an honorary doctorate from the Washington University where he taught before becoming president.
The Malawi leader said to ensure Malawi is capable of achieving prosperity, his government has focused on industrialisation, attracting foreign investors who must inject in capital and creating jobs for the youths by empowering them with necessary skills.
According to Mutharika, his administration has over the past four years reduced inflation from 24 per cent to a single digit, reduced interest rates from 25 per cent to 16 per cent, taken import cover from below 2 months to 6 months and stabilised the Kwacha.
“We have raised economic growth above the Sub-Saharan and IMF global average growth. I found GDP Growth Rate at 2.4 per cent when I started leading Malawi four years ago. Now we expect growth at 4 per cent in our 2018/2019 financial year. And we expect this growth to rise to 6 percent in 2019,” Mutharika said.
He commended Malawians for working hard to achieve the economic gains and claimed that his administration has now started ending poverty in the country.
“I believe we have begun to take Malawi from poverty to prosperity. But much of the tribute to all this progress goes to the people of Malawi. The people of Malawi have contributed to my career far much more than I can say,” Mutharika said.
During the speech, Mutharika also narrated his political journey from a political exile to the president of the Southern African country.He said in all situations he faced he learned lessons that define his leadership.
“I have learnt to lead my country with a passionate determination to take it out of poverty. The time is now or never. It must be by us or nobody else,” Mutharika said.
