Lilongwe, April 3: President Prof. Peter Mutharika Thursday confidently said Malawi will in five years be able to run its recurrent budget without donor support.
Mutharika said this at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe during media briefing organized to inform the public on some of the benefits the country gained by attending the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA) held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
The President said countries like Ethiopia managed to migrate from donor dependency through small and medium economic activities and also by encouraging its people to embrace the idea of saving money while reducing expenditures.
Mutharika said the same concept could be implemented in Malawi therefore reducing the donor dependency syndrome.
“There was a lot that we learnt as a country at the 18 COMESA Summit and among the various lessons was how African countries, Malawi in particular could reduce dependency on donor support especially in regards to the recurrent budget. During the discussion with the Ethiopian Prime Minister, I leant that through cooperatives and community saving activities it would be possible for the country to run its recurrent budgets without donor support.
“I am confident that should we become serious, in the next five years we will be able to run our recurrent budget without the help of the donors,” Mutharika explained.
Apart from cooperatives and financial savings, the President said the country could also improve its economic base by scaling up industrial activities with a specific focus on production.
The 18th Comesa Heads of Governments and State was held under the theme ‘Inclusive and sustainable Industrial Development.
On this, the President said leaders agreed to consider involving all groups of the society in the implementation of the development processes.
“I was very much impressed with this year’s theme and as leaders we agreed that we must put in place mechanisms that will ensure sustainability of programmes being implemented and also look at opening up huge industries that will profitably contribute to the economy of the country,” he said.
During the meeting Presidents also agreed to boost trade in the region, empower more youths through various programmes, strengthen disaster awareness and mainstream gender related issues.
Meanwhile Mutharika has appealed to Malawians to join hands and support government in its quest to improve the economy of the country.
