Finance Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha is expected to present the 2026-27 National Budget Statement on the afternoon of February 27, Speaker of Parliament Sameer Suleman announced Monday.
Delivering communication from the chairperson at the start of parliamentary deliberations Monday, Suleman said lawmakers would first conclude deliberations on the State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered by Peter Mutharika on Friday, with debate scheduled to run until noon on the same day.
Suleman indicated that after the budget presentation, the House would break into two weeks of cluster committee meetings to analyse the proposed estimates.
He urged members to take the cluster committee deliberations seriously, describing them as a critical window to propose adjustments to budget estimates to be unveiled by Mwanamvekha.
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According to the parliamentary calendar, members will hold a general debate on the budget from March 16 to 20, 2026. This will be followed by sittings of the Committee of Supply from Monday, March 23, to Friday, March 27, 2026.
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“This is the time when the House will have an opportunity to scrutinise the budget vote by vote to make a decision whether to pass the vote with or without amendment. Thereafter, the House will consider the Appropriation Bill and tax-related bills,” Suleman said.
Last month, Mwanamvekha signalled that the 2026-27 fiscal plan would contain difficult policy choices as the government grapples with persistent economic challenges.
Speaking at the opening of pre-budget consultation meetings in Lilongwe last month, Mwanamvekha said there was no easy way out of the current economic woes and hinted at more tough decisions in the upcoming budget.
He warned that citizens, except vulnerable Malawians, should brace for potentially unsettling measures that are deemed necessary to stabilise the economy.
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“Tough decisions will be made and we’re doing that in order to resuscitate the economy,” Mwanamvekha said.
The minister, however, assured that the poor would be protected.
During the consultations, the Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) proposed reforms aimed at unlocking revenue from State-owned enterprises (SOEs) by strengthening systems to enhance efficiency and productivity.
“Link SOEs recapitalisation to credible performance audit. Support the phased adjustments of tariffs towards cost reflective rates,” the Ecama presentation indicated.
On its part, the Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn) said social sectors remained underfunded, worsening vulnerability and entrenching future poverty as children were not being adequately nurtured to become productive citizens.
Mejn Executive Director Bertha Phiri said national budgets must be aligned to the Malawi 2063 vision, which already guides fiscal policy towards achieving long-term development targets.
