Some Development Issues and Debates

http://www.mwnation.com/business-news-the-nation/business-review/13300-in-search-of-keys-to-malawi-ailing-economy In search of keys to Malawi ailing economy Category: Business ReviewWritten by INNOCENT HELEMA. Agriculture remains the mainstay of the Malawi economy Malawi’s macroeconomic indicators; inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign exchange reserves are all in the red. This is certainly bad news for businesses and consumers. There have, however, been efforts by government such as the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) to be implemented over 18 months with specific reforms on monetary policy, but experts have so far argued that this might be futile. The ERP, launched about two months ago, sets targets on inflation rate to single digit, import cover to the internationally recommended three months and annual growth rate of 5.7 percent by December 2013. In the long term, however, the ERP focuses on five sectors of energy, tourism, mining, agriculture, transport

Greenwell Matchaya, PhD Feedback to: greenwellmatchaya@yahoo.com Introduction : The current government’s effort to get the economy out of the economic problems at hand are commendable and the effort put in authoring the Economic Recovery Plan have to be celebrated as an indicator that probably someone somewhere out there is contemplating of doing something. Having said that , it ought to be said without fear of contradiction that some, if not most of the plans in the recovery plan do not appear to be founded on any solid economic/development theory or empirics. This response to the economic recovery plan is not exhaustive and must not be interpreted as an attempt to undermine government efforts in its bid to get the economy back on its ‘two’ feet, but purports to point at a number of issues that need clarifications, for the betterment of all of us. The comments below are based partially on the understanding that we are in these problems due to the economy’s fai

In a debate on airlines and efficiency with a colleague aboard American airlines some time back, I vehemently argued that high prices characteristic of SA airlines were symptomatic of structural as well as efficiency problems and that sustainability was questionable given the stronger competition from KA, ET, etc. so the loss did not surprise me....Again, i should say now: The high auto prices in SA is an efficiency, labour wage, union power, and credit market issue...given low GDP pc such prices are unsustainable...either the financial market crashes, or the have-notes will bring econ activity to a halt...give this prophecy some time..it will come to pass Ceteris paribus. For one car in SA, you lose too new cars in UK and US!

While countries of the West, Asia and Latin America appear to be doing fine on average, some countries in Africa appear to be trapped in poverty without a clear way out. Nations like the DRC, Zambia, Tanzania, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and of course Malawi, among still have larger proportions of their population living below the US$ 1.25, per day poverty line. Obviously, if there was some magic bullet for sorting this out, most of these countries would have been rich already. While we know some of the challenges that poor countries face in their bid to uplift the lives of the poor, our knowledge needs to always be supplemented by views from various sources. Recently I collected some opinions on how Malawi can develop from my friends on Face book. The Question was: ‘Will Malawi ever develop? Below are some insights from contributors. What do you think? Any policy lessons for the GoM? • Bright Sibale What is development in your context bwana? August 18 at 11:16am via mobile • Unli

The article on tips to the president as it appeared in the Dailytimes. Note, the name is Matchaya NOT mattchaya. that was a typo at dailytimes tips to the president part1 and Tips to the presdient part 2

(A draft of what appeared in The DailyTimes- malawi, Thursday, 3 May 2012; pp 18 and 26) Dr Greenwell Matchaya (Economic Expert) Introduction Now that all seems to be in order and JB has taken control of national affairs, it’s the appropriate time to offer economic development counsel to the president before it is too late as time is really not on our side. The President ought to realize that she inheriting this country at a time when we are at the lowest point in history, socially, economically and politically. Our relations with the outside world are not the best, our relations within the nation are soured by tribalism, and the economy is mauled by absence of radical changes on the supply side, poor donor relations and deteriorating human rights situation. These should be the very first tasks the new government should consider addressing to put the nation on a right track while seeing that we get moving forward. While the importance of reduced corruption, international relatio