President Lazarus Chakwera Thursday took advantage of the world’s biggest stage, the 78th United Nations General Assembly (Unga) in New York, the United States, to plead for debt cancellation from the international community.
Chakwera said Least Developed Countries (LCDs) need a decision and action on debt, arguing that Malawi is distressed because its debt is unsustainable.
“And so our call to action on behalf of all LDCs on this matter remains the same: Cancel the debts! Cancel the debts! Cancel the debts! As a family of nations, we have already lost two years of progress during the Decade of Action due to the economic shutdowns effected to contain Covid and, if you want the global economy to regain that lost ground, you must cancel the debts,” he said.
Chakwera argued that, from when he last addressed a similar gathering, Malawi has suffered from worst natural disasters and pandemics, which slowed down progress of the country’s economy.
“We have lost another two years of progress during this Decade of Action due to economic disruptions caused by the war in Eastern Europe, and if you want to see LDCs catch up on SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals], you must cancel the debts. That’s a decision you can make today and action you can take that would breathe oxygen into the suffocating economies of the Global South,” he said.
Chakwera said while Malawi is making progress in the attainment of SDGs, there is still a threat.
“For Malawi’s part, we are committed to continue implementing reforms and policies aimed at building economic resilience against shocks. We are committed to continue engaging the United Nations and our development partners, both multilaterally and bilaterally, in mobilising international support that goes beyond disaster management and seeks to build sustainability
“We are committed to continue banging on the doors of financial institutions that remain too slow, too unresponsive, and too rigid to address the existing financing gaps in the programmes we have for achieving SDGs,” he said.
Commenting on the call, stakeholders have commended Chakwera for taking what they call a bold step that can elevate Malawi from its economic woes.
Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences-based economist Betchani Tchereni said, indeed, the Global South, including Malawi, is overburdened with debt and that, as such, the President is right to call for debt cancellation.
“It is, indeed, true that many of them cannot make headway because of this burden. If the cancelation is difficult, at least restricting should help. That way, the Global South can meaningfully participate in the achievement of the SDGs,” he said.
Human Rights Defenders Coalition Chairperson Gift Trapence said the appeal has come at the right time when the country is struggling to pay debts.
“We commend the President for being honest to highlight the issue of national disasters that Malawi has experienced and their [disasters] impact on the economy. The speech has come at the right time to make sure that the world and its development partners are aware of the impact of the disasters on the economy and the cost on infrastructure and people’s property and how difficult the road to recovery will be,” he said.
Malawi’s debt is pegged at K7.9 trillion.
