Shift in Malawi export worrying claims World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment
Malawi has slightly weakened on the latest World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) released by the Bretton Woods institution recently.
The CPIA is an annual diagnostic tool for sub- Saharan African countries eligible for financing from the International Development Association (IDA).
According to the assessment, the average overall CPIA scores in sub-Saharan Africa remained unchanged at 3.1 in 2022.
The scores assess whether sustainable growth and poverty reduction can be supported through existing policy and institutional arrangements.
The assessment, which measures economic management, policies on social inclusion and equity as well as public sector management and institutions, shows that Malawi has received a score of 3 points which is 0.1 percentage points below last year and 0.1 percentage points below the sub-Sahara average.
The assessment says Malawi performed well in the area of policies for social inclusion with a score of 3.6.
It further shows that Malawi performed poorly in the area of economic management with a score of 2.2 percent.
“Policies for social inclusion and equity are a strength, with a relatively high score for equity of public resource use.
“Macroeconomic management weakened, with challenges in fiscal policy, debt management and quality of public financial management. Public debt increased rapidly, driven by rising fiscal and external deficits. Public financial management is rated low, indicating issues with managing arrears and continued corruption. Moreover, progress in procurement and audit systems was limited,” the report says.
Secretary to the Treasury MacDonald Mafuta Mwale Sunday asked for more time to analyse the assessment before commenting on the matter.
Looking closely at the assessment, the countries with improved scores made notable advancements in the economic management, policies for social inclusion, and governance clusters.
Conversely, the countries with declining scores faced economic management and governance challenges.
The CPIA says economic and social resilience continues to be tested in all countries in sub-Saharan Africa amid tight global credit markets, as institutional capacity for restoring stability and delivering sustained growth remains a challenge.
It says such resilience is also fundamental to responding to global climate change and the expected market shifts as the world economy transitions to green energy.
It notes that the recovery of economic activity in the region following the slowdown caused by Covid has been multispeed, with wide variation across countries.
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