National Planning Commission optimistic on development
The National Planning Commission (NPC) has said Malawi is on the right path towards attaining sustainable economic growth despite facing challenges.
The commission has since warned of slow economic growth if the country continues to spread resources thinly in the national budget.
NPC Director General, Thomas Munthali, said in an interview that Malawi has been doing many things at a small level hence, no remarkable impact seen.
“That is the whole essence of planning, we need to focus and come up with targets as a country for things to change for the better” Munthali said.
NPC is working on a successor plan Malawi’s vision 2020.
Munthali said the vision lacked bench marks for regular reviews of progress.
“All the same, we are making progress, although our target is 2063, but we foresee a situation where Malawians will be able to have access to basic things at least in the next 10 to 15 years because we can see that both opposition parties and the ruling are agitating for this change in the direction of this country,” Munthali said.
Munthali said going forward, Malawi needs a new narrative—from poverty reduction to ‘spearheading wealth creation for all’ if it is to sustainably grow the economy.
He said with some minor tweaks, Vision 2020 remains relevant and will remain so for generations to come.
Munthali said the commission, hence, proposes a long-term development plan based on a defined development philosophy (mixed economy) that will operationalise the country’s agreed vision.
NPC’s mandate is to identify Malawi’s social and economic development priorities and formulate a national vision and strategy for social and economic goals, taking into account the country’s resource potential and comparative advantage.
The commission has a role of overseeing the implementation of long-term national vision and strategies, and medium term development plans.
NPC is also mandated to spearhead the formulation of innovative and progressive flagship projects in line with the national vision.
Eric Msikiti is a Senior Reporter/News Producer at Times Group. Though relatively young, Eric boasts years of experience in Malawi’s media industry.
