Germany gives Malawi €5 million for Budget Support

Germany has finally released €5 million of budget support to Malawi that was previously held back and a further €3.5 million for the Local Development Fund, according to a statement from State House in Lilongwe.

German Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gudrun Kopp praised President Joyce Banda for the positive democratic and economic trends.

Ms Kopp, who previously visited Malawi in August 2012 said “as a result of the impressive progress that has been made in Malawi, the German government has decided to release, before the end of this year, an amount of 5.0 million euros from the budget support funds that had been held back.”

In particular Ms Kopp pointed to progress on human rights and good governance which are two of the fundamental prerequisites and principles of cooperation between the two countries.

The Parliamentary Secretary of State cited progress such as the appointment of new director for Anti-corruption Bureau and the introduction of reforms to strengthen the independence of the National Audit Office.

In addition Germany will be releasing further funds amounting to 3.5 million euros from the Local Development Fund (LDF) now that important steps have been taken towards preparing for the local elections in 2014.

Commenting on the German Government’s decision, State House quotes President Joyce Banda as saying:

“My job is to steer Malawi back on the course to economic recovery so that the lives of all Malawians can improve. This is a difficult and long task, but one that people all over Malawi have united around, so I am glad to have the support of our development partners on this journey.”

This week the United Kingdom also released 20 million pounds for Malawi’s budget support.