Maravi

(NYASATIMES) Malawi devalue Kwacha, insists IMF

COMMENT - More of the same from the IMF, and it's global war against the middle class, and enforcement of corporate exploitation. Devaluing the Malawi Kwacha means stealing the savings and work of the Malawian people, who are the only ones to pay taxes and save. By the way this article from Nyasa Times is very apologetic to the IMF, and it's usual 'human rights concerns' in countries that do not follow their 'policy prescriptions' or sanctions regimes in lockstep, including enforcing sanctions against Zimbabwe. Malawi's human rights are no worse than those in surrounding countries, and a hell of a lot better than in the DRC, where entire regions are run by transnational corporations and the militias and armies they EMPLOY to steal the people's resources - something to keep in mind. Also tellingly, comments have been closed on this article at Nyasa Times. They also neglect to mention the budgetary retaliation against the Malawi government, because of it refusing to take an anti-Zimbabwe stance and extending a loan to the country of Zimbabwe. Read from back in 2009: (NYASATIMES) EU petitioned to suspend aid to Malawi over bankrolling Mugabe. To quote the Brigadier: "“Our argument is that SADC countries have been derelict in their duty to Zimbabwe. Why should countries which support Mugabe’s tyranny receive money from EU taxpayers?". This is the level of vindictiveness and retaliation that is used to enforce the New World Order. By the way, now Member of the European Parliament Brig. Gen. Geoffrey van Orden is a lifelong careerist in British Army Intelligence.

Malawi devalue Kwacha, insists IMF
By Mabvuto Banda, Reuters

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday that Malawi, which has seen donor aid dry up and revenue shrink, should cut spending and reiterated its call for the devaluation of the kwacha currency.

A mission from the fund has been taking stock of the southern African country's public finances, which are in dire straights as Britain and the United States have frozen aid packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars over concerns about the human rights record of President Bingu wa Mutharika.

With the uncertain outlook for government revenues and mounting pressures for wage increases, the mission urges the authorities to begin to identify Lower priority expenditures that could be cut, IMF Mission Chief for Malawi Tsidi Tsikata told reporters.

Government will have to devalue the local currency because the official exchange rate is failing to anchor inflation expectations as a growing share of imports is being priced at the significantly depreciated parallel exchange rate, he added.

The collapse in donor funding, which accounts for 40 percent of the budget,

[In retaliations against the extension of a loan to the Zimbabwean government, which is under international siege. - MrK]

has put pressure on the kwacha, forcing a 10 percent devaluation last year to 166 to the dollar although it remains well shy of a black market rate of close to 300.

Malawi's inflation rate has climbed into double digits with the February inflation pegged at 10.8 percent up from 10.3 percent in January.

Land-locked Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries and its economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, much of it subsistence.

[Subsistence farming is a hell of a lot better than the presence of the giant foreign owned tea plantations, who only accumulate wealth for themselves, which they then ship back to Britain.

- MrK]

Labels: IMF, KWACHA (MALAWI), NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 6:17 PM