Malawi's economic experts Monday warned of increased poverty in their donor-dependent country, as they prepare to ask donors for a billion dollars in debt relief.
The economists are drafting a paper on poverty reduction to be submitted to donors in December, which they hope will make Malawi eligible for one billion US dollars in debt relief.
"Malawians living under the poverty line have increased from 60 percent before 1997 to 65.3 percent," George Zimalirana, a leading economist at the national economic council (NEC) told AFP.
Zimalirana blamed the country's deteriorating economic situation on technocrats and politicians who fail to implement the government's development and economic policies.
He said Malawi, with its limited resources, needed to prioritise activities that would spur on economic growth and reduce poverty.
The country's agriculturally dependent economy has grown by two percent per annum over the last decade.
The World Bank, Malawi's main financial backer, estimates the economy needs to grow by a minimum of six percent a year to reduce poverty and create employment.
And last year economists here warned that the country needed 325 million US dollars a year over the next five to ten years to minimise poverty.
Malawi is ranked 163 out of the world's 173 poorest nations, by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
President Bakili Muluzi won the country's first multi-party elections in 1994 on a wave of popular support sparked in part by his pledge to reduce poverty. |
