Malawi economy to grow by 3.2%, says Finance Minister

Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda is predicting that the country’s economy will grow by 3.2 percent this year.

Chithyola Banda said this today (Tuesday) in Mzuzu during pre-budget consultations meeting.

He said the country registered a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 1.5 percent in 2023, compared to 0.9 percent in 2022.

He projects that the economy will grow by 3.2 percent this year, on account of foreign exchange availability and investments in the agriculture sector.

“We could sit in Lilongwe and develop a budget, present it in Parliament and it passes, but that will not truly reflect what is required. 

“Not all contributions can be taken, so let’s contribute. 

“What we are doing will shape the future of this country and build the Malawi we want,” said Chithyola Banda.

This morning, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs is leading the 2024/25 pre-budget consultations at Sunbird Mzuzu Hotel. 

It is the third meeting after Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

New Secretary to Treasury Associate Professor Betchani Tchereni made his maiden speech. 

He said the team was here in Mzuzu to provide suggestion on how the 2024/25 budget should look like.

“What country do we went to bequeath to our children and their children? 

“What legacy do we want to leave when many of us have retired?  

“We have agreed through the Malawi 2063, that we are a developmental state, but it has to be applicable?

“We can develop a budget, a very thick document but only contains Other Recurrent Transactions (ORT). 

“Is that what we want? I am new, so too the Finance Minister, this makes us to think outside the box, rather than the traditional way of doing things. We need to be a producing nation,” he said.

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