The Indigenous Businesses Association of Malawi (Ibam) says it will continue to lobby for the welfare of indigenous businesses to ensure that they grow and contribute meaningfully to economic development.
Ibam interim president Mike Mlombwa said this in the wake of the association’s meeting with President Peter Mutharika a fortnight ago where they discussed issues that could further the development of small businesses.
“Our meeting with the President centred on the development of small businesses and how government can come in to assist them. We also wanted to hear from the President his plan for small businesses in Malawi,” he said.
Mlombwa said their meeting with the President and the benefits that will accrue in terms of policy will trickle down to the country’s small businesses.
He said it is high time government developed policies that ensures a conducive environment for the smooth operation of small businesses and that interest rates, currently at around 34 percent, are reduced further for businesses to thrive.
Two weeks ago, the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) cut the bank rate—the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the central bank as a lender of last resort—from 25 percent to 22.5 percent, a move that has been hailed by the business community.
Mutharika, in the State of the Nation Address, said government will give special importance to the design and implementation of sound macro-economic policies as a critical factor to support good governance.
He said government will create an enabling environment to achieve four principal objectives; attaining macro-economic growth; allocating resources more efficiently; mobilising domestic and foreign resources to support economic growth and reduction of public expenditure.
