IMF says Malawi staff visit made progress toward new lending programme
IMF said its Malawi staff visit ended Tuesday and made progress on macroeconomic policies for a possible new IMF-supported Extended Credit Facility programme, as discussions continue to finalise the policy package.
BLANTYRE, Oct 7 (Reuters) — The International Monetary Fund said a staff visit to Malawi had made progress on a set of macroeconomic policies that could be supported by a new lending programme. The visit ended on Tuesday, and below are more details from an IMF statement and context: "The authorities have been implementing strong reforms to tighten fiscal discipline, reduce the public debt burden, and improve how markets function.
These reforms provide a good foundation for an IMF-supported programme," the Fund said "Discussions will continue to finalise the policy package that could underpin an Extended Credit Facility-supported programme," it added Malawi's last IMF programme, worth $175 million, ended in May last year because the country did not complete a review within 18 months of its approval, meaning it received only an initial disbursement of $35 million The Southern African nation is one of the world's poorest countries and its economic difficulties include a high debt burden and declining donor funding President Peter Mutharika, who took office a year ago, has said that securing a new IMF deal is crucial to stabilise the economy, as fuel and foreign exchange shortages have persisted (Reporting by Frank Phiri.
Writing by Alexander Winning. com)