Speaking in an interview with the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, Mutharika admitted that forex stabilisation remains a major challenge as his administration works to rebuild Malawi’s economy.
Mutharika said his government has made progress on food, fuel, fertiliser and forex during its first year in office, but acknowledged that the country still faces difficulties in addressing foreign exchange and fuel challenges.
Mutharika said several factors affect the availability and stability of foreign exchange, making it a particularly difficult problem for his administration to resolve.
He said government is currently in discussions with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on the possibility of reviving the Extended Credit Facility, which he believes could help bring additional resources into the country.
“Once we can get that, and we have some resources coming in, we will be able to, I think, stabilise the economy,” Mutharika said.
The President said rebuilding Malawi and restoring the economy would take longer than his administration initially anticipated, noting that the circumstances facing the country are more challenging than when he first took office in 2014.
He said his administration has achieved about 50 percent of what it set out to accomplish in its first year, but stressed that the four-F agenda was designed as a five-year programme rather than a one-year programme.
Mutharika said food security remains one of his administration’s key achievements, particularly for communities that had experienced hunger, and defended the reduction in food prices as an important achievement.
However, he acknowledged that progress has been uneven, with some areas moving faster than others, while fuel and forex challenges remain among the issues his government needs to address.
