The Ministry of Finance spokesperson, Williams Banda, said key contributors into the 2020/21 National Budget are suggesting that the next financial plan should focus on recovery from possible effects of Covid-19 pandemic.

Banda revealed that it has been suggested to widen the tax base so that the next budget should focus on economic recovery after Covid-19. The call follows after Malawi is unexpectedly spending her planned budget on cushioning effects of the pandemic; businesses are at a standstill, the tourism sector has partially closed down while the agricultural sector cannot import/export due to border closures.

On the other hand, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) still aims to achieve its 5% inflation target by the first quarter of 2021, despite economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The central bank’s Governor, Dalitso Kabambe, outlined that the negative impacts of Covid-19 followed the country’s macro-economic stability characterised by low inflation and interest rates, stable exchange rate and also high accumulation of a foreign exchange currency buffer. However, Kabambe said a single digit inflation was achievable depending on maize prices.