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The British government and the European Union (EU) have said they will wait for the outcome of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board meeting on Malawi later this month before deciding whether or not to start releasing withheld budgetary support.
In an interview last week, EU head of delegation to Malawi Wiepke Van der Goot said he has always looked forward to the time Malawi would be back in a programme with the IMF.
“The IMF is setting into motion the procedure for Malawi to start getting aid,” he said.
The EU envoy said he has always believed Malawi can stick to agreed programmes with the IMF by properly managing available financial resources just like some thriving economies within the region.
He said while the EU continues to support such sectors as health, infrastructure development and food security, among others, budgetary support would await the October 20 IMF board meeting.
The British High Commission has since said it will make a formal announcement on the position of the British government after the IMF board finally meets.
“We have submitted recommendations on budget support to our government and we will make an announcement on the UK position when the IMF meets,” British High Commission press officer Chris Wraight said.
Britain has been withholding 15 million pounds sterling in yearly budgetary support funding for the past two years.
Wraight said, however, his government is currently contributing about 0.5 million pounds sterling towards next year’s tripartite general elections.
The money being specifically targeted for civic education, is being funded through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) trust fund, Wraight said.
But some sources within the donor community have indicated they may be reluctant to release aid to Malawi because of the pending tripartite general elections next year.
“There will be a lot of temptations with the elections coming and it is easy for government to go off-track again,” one source said.
Minister of Economic Planning and Development Bingu Mutharika said last week he anticipates Malawi’s bilateral donors would start releasing withheld budgetary support to Malawi after the IMF board meets.
“In fact some of the funding will start coming in from bilateral donors even before the IMF board meets. I held a lot of bilateral meetings at various levels with both the IMF and World Bank in Dubai recently. There was even an impromptu presentation on Malawi which is a very positive sign,” he said.
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