Lilongwe: Financial economist and investment banker Max Honde discusses with Daily Times's Business Editor Thom Khanje on the prospects of Malawi returning to a programme with the International Monetary Fund:

Lilongwe: Towards the end of November last year, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Governor Perks Ligoya raided the airwaves of Capital Radio and relayed information that caused a few intestines to roll. He said Malawi would have to effect another devaluation of the local currency to address the foreign exchange shortages prevailing in the country. "Some adjustment to the kwacha could be good," Ligoya told the privately owned radio in an interview.

Lilongwe: Some economic commentators have supported the government's drive to champion a fast-tracked export development initiative through intensified agricultural production whose output is expected to start earning foreign exchange for the country within 12 months. Finance Minister Ken Lipenga has since urged the private sector to come up with detailed proposals on how the government can support export generation ventures.

Lilongwe: The Malawi government has commenced the review of the concession agreement between with Central East Africa Railways (Cear) for the management and operations of the Malawi Railways. Director of Planning in the Ministry of Transport and Public Infrastructure's Victor Lungu disclosed last week that the process is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2012.

Lilongwe: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has blamed Malawi's current economic problems on foreign exchange controls introduced by government over the years. It has since recommended the liberalisation of the forex market and substantial devaluation as one way of addressing the situation. The IMF has also advised Malawi to regularise relations with donors and other funders to reinstate foreign exchange funding support to government.

The Competitiveness and Job Creation Support Project involves the public sector and the private sector [in Malawi] working together to improve the competitiveness of the private sector in order to promote broad-based economic growth and development, export diversification and job creation. The strategic outcomes of the project include:

Lilongwe:  Malawi has signed a $1 billion deal with Brazil's Vale for the construction and rehabilitation of a rail line that will transport 18 million tonnes of coal from Mozambique, government officials said on Wednesday. Vale Logistics, a subsidiary of mining giant Vale, will build a new 138.5 km (86 mile) line from Chikhwawa in the south, to meet an existing line at Balaka. It will also rehabilitate 98.6 km of the existing link between Nkaya to Nayuchi.

Lilongwe: The Malawi economy could create a niche among top African countries that benefit significantly from service exports, but unfriendly foreign remittance instruments have translated into a negligible gross domestic product (GDP) contribution from the country's human resource capital abroad, experts have said.

Lilongwe: The Chinese government is expected to fund the construction of an industrial zone in the country where various clusters of related industries will be located and provided with special incentives to facilitate faster industrial growth. Minister of Industry and Trade John Bande disclosed in an interview with Business Times in Lilongwe that processes have already started and that government officials last year visited China and Zambia to familiarise themselves with the concept.

Lilongwe: The Grain Traders Association of Malawi (GTAM) has thrown its weight behind the decision by government to ban maize exports, saying it is timely to keep some grain reserves for next season. In an interview on Wednesday, GTAM Executive Director Grace Mhango said the ban had come at the right time when the country was running short of maize.