Goodall explains World Bank K60 billion delay
By Taonga Sabola:
Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe has explained the delays by the World Bank in disbursing K60 billion budgetary support to Malawi.
The delays have thrown the 2018/19 financial plan off-balance, resulting in Gondwe slashing the budget by K25.1 billion and suggesting a K50.5 billion increase in domestic borrowing this year.
Treasury revised the budget downwards from K1.454 trillion to K1.429 trillion mainly on account of non-disbursement of budget support from the Breton Woods’ institution.
Gondwe told Parliament when he presented the mid-year budget statement in Lilongwe on Friday that the government expects the disbursement in next year’s budget.
He said the World Bank expects Capital Hill to implement recommendations of the functional review of Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) among other conditions.
“They had asked us to do a review of Admarc, a thing we did and they now want us to implement the recommendations,” Gondwe told reporters after delivering the mid-year statement.
Among other things, the World Bank recommends that Admarc and other statutory corporations should not get bailouts from the State.
At the time of budget formulation, the Treasury assumed a disbursement of K60 billion from the World Bank.
However, Gondwe told Parliament that budgetary support would rather be channelled into the next fiscal plan covering 2019/20 financial year.
