The best judges of Malawi’s economic progress are the Malawians themselves.
Therefore it is only Malawians who can give a verdict as to which government, whether the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or Malawi Congress Party (MCP) regimes, met the economic aspirations of Malawians.
The remarks of the visiting International monetary fund (IMF) Managing Director, Gita Gopinath that DPP should take the blame for messing up the Malawi economy when it was in power are unfortunately misleading.
Upon ascendancy to power, the Tonse Alliance administration led by President Lazarus Chakwera cancelled a $101 million (101 billion Kwacha) deal with International Monetary Fund (IMF) because it was negotiated by former President Peter Mutharika.
Does this mean that IMF disbursed the credit facility to Malawi when DPP led government did not meet the necessary sound monetary and economic policies?
Malawians are aware that the aftermath of the cancellation of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) by Chakwera government in 2020 was the scarcity of forex, high inflation rate and rising costs of goods and services.
Frankly speaking, how would DPP be blamed for this economic mess?
Logically speaking , how can Peter Mutharika be blamed for the current economic mess when he left presidency some four years ago?
In fact, how has Chakwera regime done for the past four years to resuscitate the dwindling economy?
Was it not absurd for Chakwera government to cancel the already clinched credit facility only to negotiate another one from the same IMF leaving innocent Malawians feeling the pinch of scarcity of forex and skyrocketing of basic goods and services?
The truth of the matter is that IMF is happy because Chakwera Government always bows to IMF demands of devaluing our local currency.
By frequently devaluing the Kwacha, Malawians are feeling the pinch of high prices of goods and services under the maladministration of President Chakwera.
From the perspective of Malawians, MCP Government is to blame for messing up the country’s economy.
NB: This opinion does not come from Malawi24 but the independent author
