UTM President Dr. Dalitso Kabambe has described the country’s economy as in shambles and off track adding the whole economy has crumbled and that the forex shortage is just a symptom.
Speaking to the press in Lilongwe he indicated that time is up for the current government as with only eight months to the General Elections, it’s too late for them to correct the situation saying “achepa nazo.”
He criticized the current fiscal policy of borrowing, monetary and exchange rate policies branding it as a fiscal cancer as everyone is trading on the black market which is more lucrative.
Kabambe said the current fuel crisis will not end until authorities address the forex woes which have led to incessant borrowing and called on government to address the fiscal challenges.
The UTM leader bemoaned the rampant levels of corruption which has worsened with government procurement contracts becoming a criminal enterprise.
He cited nepotism, tribalism and cronyism as some of the elements which have led things to stall noting that only tribally or politically connected people are the ones favoured for jobs over merit.
An economist by profession, he stated that the K1.4 trillion going towards servicing public debt every year is depriving the private sector and paralysing it as there’s no forex in the banks.
He further lamented that government is the number one entity that uses forex making the dollar scarce hence causing huge misalignments and crippling the economy.
According to him, devaluation was not a solution and misalignments will lead to more depreciation of the Kwacha which will only aggravate the pain Malawians are being subjected to.
The former Reserve Bank of Malawi Governor said the solution isn’t in devaluing as it means chasing the parallel market forever.
“It’s unfair, hypocritical on the average Malawian as the private sector is denied the much needed forex” The UTM President observed that demand for forex is too high compared to supply hence prices will keep increasing.
He indicated that if elected to power in September this year, it will take the UTM, a minimum of three months with a very high dosage economic plan to bring down inflation and the longest being 18 months to reverse things.
The UTM President added that once elected, the party will not devalue the Kwacha for five years but would rather invest in mining and manufacturing sectors.
Kabambe indicated that time for finger pointing is over but rather it’s time to do what is right for Malawians adding that UTM has never been on the driving seat and should not be judged on other parties mistakes.
He disclosed that during his interface with various stakeholders, hunger came out as the most pressing issues that are Malawians are facing across the country.
With high fertilizer prices, he pointed out that many Malawians are failing to apply the commodity in their fields arguing that this needs to be urgently addressed for the food challenge to be over as many farmers are producing less and can’t produce surplus to sell and that this had led to dwindled incomes.
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