President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has hinted that he will take advantage of the BRICS Summit in South African to appeal to China and India to consider easing Malawi’s debt.
In July 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the first review of the 12-month Staff-Monitored Program with Executive Board involvement (PMB) for Malawi, which indicated that the program is sufficiently robust and remains on track to meet its objectives but more has to be done on debt restructuring.
“Successful debt restructuring is vital to deliver macroeconomic stability. A concerted effort among the authorities, their creditors, and their international development partners will be crucial to ensure successful implementation of the external debt restructuring strategy,” said the IMF.
And writing on his Facebook page as he departed for the SADC and BRICS Summits, President Chakwera said at the BRICS summit, Malawi is expected to champion its cause with emerging and fellow developing markets through multilateral cooperation to rebalance the world’s economic and political tectonics and make the global system conducive for inclusive growth.
“I also expect to engage two BRICS key members, China and India, on easing our debt repayment schedule,” added the President.
The SADC 43rd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government starts on Thursday in Angola followed by the 15th BRICS Outreach Plus summit from 22nd to 24th August, where Malawi is one of the 67 non-member countries invited to attend.
