By Malawi Exclusive
Former Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe says the economic challenges being faced in the country are not unique to Malawi as many African countries are facing same problems due to a number of factors and not neccesarily political leadership.
In an interview with Rainbow Television on Wednesday, Gondwe commended Malawi Government for the efforts being done to stabilise the situation.
Gondwe said a number of African countries are going through the same challenges.
“There is no African country that is behaving differently than ours. Almost every country has trade deficit which is affecting the availability of foreign exchange in respective countries. Shortages of foreign exchange is not about the issue of importing more and exporting less, it is the issue to do with structures of economies,” said Gondwe.
Gondwe, therefore, applauded Government decision to invite the International Monetary Fund (IMF) into the country arguing that the current economic situation requires intervention from the Bretton Woods institution.
Gondwe stressed that the economic situation in the country is not as bad as it may seem. He said discussion with the visiting IMF team could bring solution and help determine the next course of action that the Malawi government should take in order to normalize the situation.
‘’I think government has taken the correct decision to invite the IMF into the country to explain on the progress they have made on the Extended Credit Facility. From the discussions with the Malawi government they will determine what the government should do,” said Gondwe.
The former Finance minister denied reports that were making rounds last week that he declined government invitations to be part of Malawi team to meet the IMF this week.
He said no one approached him on the matter and described the reports as mere lies.
“Nobody came to me to ask if I could join the Malawi delegation. I have heard from a number of people about this but I don’t know how you journalists imagine things and make lies to sound factual,” said Gondwe.
The meeting with the IMF started on Wednesday this week in Lilongwe. Among other things the Malawi government is expected to present a dossier on how they would rectify the misinformation made to the IMF which led to the suspension of their support to Malawi.