Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola Banda engaged various stakeholders among them representatives of economic bodies, the academia, civil society organisations, pensioners, and motorcycle taxi operators who asked the finance ministry to allocate adequate resources into 2025/2026 national budget to improve living standards of Malawians.
The Blantyre meeting which was held at Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre on Friday was the third and last regional meeting after Chithyloa Banda’s similar stakeholders’ engagement meetings in Lilongwe and Mzuzu this month.
The meetings provided space for stakeholders to submit their recommendations to the national budget.
Secretary to the Treasury, Professor Betchan Tcheleni asked the Blantyre stakeholders to critically look into issues that shall grow Malawi’s economy as the country is still recovering from several economic shocks that came following a series of tropical cyclones and other forms of natural disaster occurrences on top of pandemics such as Covid-19 in recent years.
“Time is now to do business unusual,” he said while appealing to the Sunbird Mount Soche delegates to critically look into “where and how to get resources” for Malawi to move forward.
Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI), Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) Bankers Association of Malawi were some of the bodies that pushed for tax reforms and other economic policies for a sustainable economy thereby moving away from “traditional fiscal practices” that only focus on consumption other than investing to export.
Fiscal discipline that includes enforcement of expenditure controls, adoption of a growth-oriented approach to the economy, broadening the tax base while introducing tax policies that encourage savings and investment, and introduction of safety nets for low-income earners in urban and rural areas were some of the contributions from professional bodies, Minibus Owners Association of Malawi (MOAM), civil society organisation, concerned pensioners association and other concerned groups.
President of Concerned Retired Civil Servants, Nellie Mkhumba expressed concern over unpaid gratuities of over 15,000 pensioners who retired from the public sector in 2019.
“It is unfortunate that there is a group of pensioners that have not received their dues up to this moment. Over 14,000 pensioners are yet to receive their gratuities,” she added and further expressed concern over the continued devaluation of the national currency at the expense of pensioners who are yet to get their gratuities.
The concerned retired civil servants president said her organisation had several times engaged the government to look into the issue for the betterment of people she described as “patriotic Malawians that served their country,”
Mkhumba stated that the pre-budget consultation meeting provided another platform for the concerned pensioners to express concerns over unpaid gratuities for over 14,000 pensioners whom she said are failing to cope with the current economic trends.
Refereeing to the Pension Act that talks of timely payment of gratuity, Mkhumba therefore asked the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs to allocate adequate resources in the 2025/2026 budget for the pensioners to receive their dues.
On a different note, a representative of motorcycle taxi operators, Muhamad Abutrika called on the government to regulate, provide licenses for operation and collect taxes from the operators whom he said were willing to comply with tax regulations.
“We too can meaningfully contribute to the country’s economy if we are recognised, regulated and taxed,” he said as he proposed paying facilities in public hospitals for those that can afford to pay services for revenue generation into government coffers.
MOAM President Coxley Kamange hailed government for introducing toll gates on the country’s main roads for revenue generation but wonders why motorcyclists especially kabaza operators bypass the toll gates.
“Motorcycle taxi operators should ensure they pass through the tollgates so that they should be paying what they are supposed to pay,” he added and called on the authorities to work on a strategy to see the motorcyclists are abiding by the regulations.
Speaking to the press, the Minister of Finance said was delighted with the contribution by stakeholders during the three pre-budget consultation meetings, saying the ministry’s objective was to seek views from Malawians for consolidation in the national budget.
“Responsive budget take onboard aspirations of Malawians. There are issues of value additions, and economic diversification among others.
“l am therefore happy with the contributions. All the submissions are making real sense,” Chithyola Banda added.
He however said the Ministry of Finance was not supposed to immediately respond to the submissions by stakeholders at the pre-budget consultation meetings other than documenting the submissions for consolidation in the national budget. He therefore commended all the stakeholders that attended Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Blantyre regional ministerial consultative pre-budget meetings for being patriotic, participative and objective in their contribution, saying the ministry will continue to engage captains of the economy and all Malawians on issues of national economy.