The visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) first Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath has congratulated Malawi President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera for his tough decisions that his government has made in recent times to help strengthen the domestic economy.
Speaking at Kamuzu Palace soon after she met the Malawi leader in camera, Gopinath disclosed that the global multilateral lender is now “beginning to see results of the reforms” that the Chakwera-led government is implementing to help resuscitate the economy.
“I had an excellent meeting with the President of Malawi and I congratulated him on the tough and bold decisions he has taken to help strengthen the economy,” she said.
She added: “The momentum must continue and this will be part of the discussions that the IMF team will have on ECF (Extended Credit Facility). The IMF and management are fully committed to supporting Malawi in this transformation.”
On his part, Finance Minister Sosten Gwengwe described the meeting by the IMF boss and President Chakwera as fruitful, stressing that the fund has demonstrated its strong solidarity with Malawi as the country transitions to the new ECF.
Gwengwe described the pending IMF program with Malawi as a “silver bullet” which the country must absorb in order to revive the economy.
“The fundamentals are adjusting to the right way and IMF is also confident on their own. Yes we have gone through difficulties and it’s not yet over but we are optimistic that we will have the ECF program soon” said Gwengwe.