Malawi ‘Recovery’ Budget Too Little Too Late

BLANTYRE - Economic commentators¹ in Malawi said President Joyce Banda’s first national budget, presented to Malawi’s parliament Friday, gives the country’s poor nothing to smile about. Malawians had expected the $1.5 billion budget to include measures to help cushion the impact of the recent 50 percent currency devaluation, which has pushed the cost of living to higher levels.  

President Joyce Banda’s first budget follows the zero-deficit budget, introduced by the late president Bingu wa Mutharika. He adopted the zero-deficit fiscal² plan after donors³ suspended aid to Malawi over concerns about economic policies, governance and human rights issues. Economic commentators said that budget included punitive⁴ taxes imposed on goods and services, and led to a spike⁵ in basic commodities prices.

Delivering the budget statement Friday, Malawi Finance Minister Ken⁶ Lipenga said the new budget would address these issues but the path to recovery will not be pain free.

“Mr. Speaker, sir, we have made effort to learn lessons in the 2011 financial year," said Lipenga. "I am committed to address these issues and implement⁷ necessary reforms in order to promote transparency and accountability in the use of public finances. We recognize the challenges that we face and that this will not be an easy journey.”    

To ease some of pain of Malawians, Lipenga said the government will remove value added taxed on bread, import duties from second hand clothes and medical equipment, and give civil servants a 21 percent salary increase, compared to last year's 7.5 percent increase.

But local economists⁹ and unions criticized the budget for not doing enough soon enough for most Malawians.

The Civil Servants Trade Union said the 21 percent salary increase does not  keep pace with the spice in prices for basic goods and services due to the 50% currency devaluation.

For everyone else, David Ngomba, projects officer for the lobbying group Consumers Association of Malawi, said ordinary Malawians will not feel the benefits of this budget for some time.

“Honestly, what consumers should expect is something that will not cushion the effects of the economy that they are experiencing at the moment. A number of the products' prices have gone up and they have not been reduced," said Ngomba. "And, again, the 21 percent increment¹⁰ of the civil servants is something that will not take them along to survive the effect of the austerity measures that have been put in place.”

Friday Jumbe, a renowned¹¹ economist⁸ and former finance minister, said there is nothing in the budget that gives hope to small scale businesses. “What is it in this budget where a normal business person of a small or medium size can claim to benefit? Nothing," he said.

"There is no statement that gives you comfort that a small player can benefit anything, yet the rhetoric¹² is always big, where we says ‘ooh, let’s go out there and do business' and that we should support the small scale industry, Jumbe added. "The support is not forthcoming when you see the budgets of this nature coming in the manner it has come”.

Representatives of the Minibus Owners Association of Malawiare angry at the decision to remove taxes on the importation of large buses. They said it could kill the minibus business - which is vital to the transport sector¹³ - yet still subject to import duties on its vehicles.

Some of these concerns may be addressed in the next two weeks as parliament debates the budget before voting to pass it.

1 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

5 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 increment   

n.增值，增价；提薪，增加工资

参考例句：

• Each increment of knowledge tells us more of our world.知识的点滴增长都会增进我们对世界的认知。
• She receives a salary increment each year.她每年得到加薪。

11 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

12 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。