Reported By Catherine Tembo:
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are calling for the cancellation of external debt, citing the substantial dollar payments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as unsustainable.
This call follows an observation that the 27% allocation for loan repayment to the IMF is disproportionately large, diverting funds from other critical sectors that are already struggling to meet the Abuja declaration targets.
The remarks were made during a press briefing in LIlongwe organised by Universal Health Coverage Coalition UHCC in Malawi aimed at updating the media and the Public on Financing for Development.
Malawi is struggling with debt amounting to 15 million Malawi Kwacha and the country spends 27 percent of its national budget to repay debts owed by IMF and other MDBs
Chairperson for UHC and Executive Director for Universal Health Coverage George Jobe has strongly calls for Malawi’s debt to be cancelled unconditionally, as it is the only way to end the debt crisis Malawi is facing.
He further said there is a need to ensure radical economic reforms and put in place measures to ensure that unnecessary borrowing is stopped and that debt is controlled from escalating to avoid reaching unsustainable levels.
“We are advocating for quality provision of health services, we need urgent aid reforms and public debt restructuring linked to health, education and other public services,” Said Jobe.
In her remarks A Representative for Young Urban Women Network under Action Aid Joan Ching’amba said the debts have a huge impact on various sectors including Health and Education mostly the vulnerable groups are women and children.
She said women can’t get enough funding to support their education hence can’t be empowered resulting to high chances of being abused.
” It is a huge burden to our women and girls since they can’t access health services such as sexual reproductive health resulting in unwanted pregnancies”, she said.
Malawi’s economy has been severely impacted by multiple shocks, including Cyclone Freddy and the COVID-19 pandemic, which have hindered economic recovery and led to a significant accumulation of debt from the IMF and MDBs.
