Donor bailout awaits approval

President Joyce Banda has said Malawians should wait a little longer for the donor community to release money for cushioning the country from the adverse effects the devaluation of the kwacha.

Addressing journalists in Blantyre on her arrival from what she termed an”image building campaign” from the United Kingdom and the United States of America on Thursday, Banda said no decision had been made on the aid through the meeting with donors’ representatives.

“I presented my case for Malawi to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for them to unlock their aid.

“However, decisions have not yet been made as all these bodies are waiting for their respective boards to approve such decisions,” said Banda, adding Malawi’s fate would be known by the end of July as all these boards would have met by then.

She said her meeting with IMF Managing Director Christine Largarde gave her optimism that the body will approve aid resumption to Malawi as that would give a signal to other donor countries to resume their programmes with Malawi.

Malawi’s US$350.7 million (K94. 7 billion) Millennium Challenge Corporation compact is a single-sector programme focusing on activities that aim to revitalize Malawi’s struggling power sector.

The president said this year, prayers only have been organised for the July 6 Independence celebrations, saying the country cannot afford the K100m plus bill for the celebrations due to the current economic problems.