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Africa > Malawi

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 11 items for :

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Cover IMF Notes
Agricultural Producer Subsidies: Navigating Challenges and Policy Considerations
David Amaglobeli
,
Todd Benson
, and
Tewodaj Mogues
The objectives underlying agricultural output subsidies can have conflicting implications for the design of subsidy programs. As they tend to affect meaningful swaths of the electorate, subsidies can also be an attractive political instrument. By artificially lowering production costs or assuring higher output prices, direct support measures can result in resource misallocation in instances where they fail to address market failures, such as imperfect information about the returns to fertilizers. Subsidies can also contribute to fertilizer overuse, harming the environment and the agricultural sector in the long term. Furthermore, agricultural production subsidies are often fiscally costly and unfavorable compared to alternative uses of public funds—both within the agricultural sector and outside it—to achieve the same ends. Various design and implementation challenges amplify the shortcomings of producer subsidy programs.
Keywords:
Agricultural subsidies; direct farmer support; payments to agricultural producers; producer subsidy; input subsidy program; IMF note 2024/002; output price subsidy; implementation challenge; Agricultural policy; Government subsidies; Agroindustries; Agricultural sector; Price incentives; Global; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Macro-Structural Policies and Income Inequality in Low-Income Developing Countries
Ms. Stefania Fabrizio
,
Davide Furceri
,
Mr. Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu
,
Ms. Grace B Li
,
Mrs. Sandra V Lizarazo Ruiz
,
Ms. Marina Mendes Tavares
,
Mr. Futoshi Narita
, and
Adrian Peralta
Despite sustained economic growth and rapid poverty reductions, income inequality remains stubbornly high in many low-income developing countries. This pattern is a concern as high levels of inequality can impair the sustainability of growth and macroeconomic stability, thereby also limiting countries’ ability to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. This underscores the importance of understanding how policies aimed at boosting economic growth affect income inequality. Using empirical and modeling techniques, the note confirms that macro-structural policies aimed at raising growth payoffs in low-income developing countries can have important distributional consequences, with the impact dependent on both the design of reforms and on country-specific economic characteristics. While there is no one-size-fits-all recipe, the note explores how governments can address adverse distributional consequences of reforms by designing reform packages to make pro-growth policies also more inclusive.
Keywords:
SDN; productivity; rate; revenue; Income inequality; growth; macro-structural policies; resource mobilization; infrastructure investment; financial sector reform; financial inclusion; agriculture; cash transfer program; higher-productivity sector; inequality in low-income developing countries; productivity gap; cost of capital; income fluctuation; Value-added tax; Income; Agricultural sector; Income distribution; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Aid and Growth at the Regional Level
Axel Dreher
and
Steffen Lohmann
This paper brings the aid effectiveness debate to the sub-national level. We hypothesize the nonrobust results regarding the effects of aid on development in the previous literature to arise due to the effects of aid being insufficiently large to measurably affect aggregate outcomes. Using geocoded data for World Bank aid to a maximum of 2,221 first-level administrative regions (ADM1) and 54,167 second-level administrative regions (ADM2) in 130 countries over the 2000-2011 period, we test whether aid affects development, measured as nighttime light growth. Our preferred identification strategy exploits variation arising from interacting a variable that indicates whether or not a country has passed the threshold for receiving IDA's concessional aid with a recipient region's probability to receive aid, in a sample of 478 ADM1 regions and almost 8,400 ADM2 regions from 21 countries. Controlling for the levels of the interacted variables, the interaction provides a powerful and excludable instrument. Overall, we find significant correlations between aid and growth in ADM2 regions, but no causal effects.
Keywords:
WP; effect of aid; IDA-threshold effect; level of significance; term growth-effect; Aid Effectiveness; Geo-coding; World Bank; rainfall growth; aid-growth regression; growth OLS; IDA threshold; Agroindustries; Personal income; Population growth; Africa; Central Asia; South Asia; Global
Cover Departmental Papers
Mozambique Rising: Building a New Tomorrow
Ms. Doris C Ross
,
Victor Duarte Lledo
,
Mr. Alex Segura-Ubiergo
,
Mr. Yuan Xiao
,
Ms. Iyabo Masha
,
Mr. Alun H. Thomas
, and
Mr. Keiichiro Inui
The countries in the East African Community (EAC) are among the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. This report highlights Mozambique’s remarkably strong growth over the two decades since the end of the civil war in 1992, as well as the major challenges that remain for the country to rise out of poverty and further its economic development.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; natural resource; foreign direct investment; private sector; exchange rate; economic growth; resource revenue; civil war; management system; primary sector
Cover Departmental Papers
Mozambique Rising: Building a New Tomorrow
Ms. Doris C Ross
,
Victor Duarte Lledo
,
Mr. Alex Segura-Ubiergo
,
Mr. Yuan Xiao
,
Ms. Iyabo Masha
,
Mr. Alun H. Thomas
, and
Mr. Keiichiro Inui
This publication highlights Mozambique’s remarkably strong growth over the two decades since the end of the civil war in 1992, as well as the major challenges that remain for the country to rise out of poverty and further its economic development. Chapters explore such topics as the role of megaprojects and their relationship to jobs and growth; infrastructure and public investment; Mozambique's quest for inclusive growth; developing the agricultural sector; and building a social protection floor.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; natural resource; foreign direct investment; private sector; exchange rate; economic growth; resource revenue; civil war; management system; primary sector; per capita income; distribution network; investment project; stabilization fund; Public investment and public-private partnerships (PPP); Public investment spending; Natural resources; Infrastructure; Agricultural sector; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; Global; Southern Africa
Cover Departmental Papers
La montée en puissance du Mozambique — Construire un nouveau lendemain
Ms. Doris C Ross
,
Victor Duarte Lledo
,
Mr. Alex Segura-Ubiergo
,
Mr. Yuan Xiao
,
Ms. Iyabo Masha
,
Mr. Alun H. Thomas
, and
Mr. Keiichiro Inui
La présente publication met en exergue la croissance remarquablement vigoureuse du Mozambique au cours des vingt dernières années depuis la fin de la guerre civile en 1992, ainsi que les obstacles principaux que le pays doit encore surmonter pour sortir de la pauvreté et poursuivre son développement économique. Les chapitres portent entre autres sur les thèmes suivants : le rôle des mégaprojets et leur rapport à l'emploi et la croissance ; l'infrastructure et l'investissement public ; le Mozambique sur la voie de la croissance inclusive ; le développement du secteur agricole ; et l'établissement d'un socle de protection sociale.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; natural resource; foreign direct investment; private sector; exchange rate; economic growth; resource revenue; civil war; management system; primary sector
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Malawi: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper: Annual Progress Report
International Monetary Fund
This paper reviews the Annual Progress Report on Malawi’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (MPRS). The poverty situation remained high over the implementation period of the MPRS. The government continued funding activities that have been perceived to have an impact on poverty reduction. The MPRS outlined a number of macroeconomic policies that have been adhered to achieve the macroeconomic targets. These policies have been mainly in the form of monetary, fiscal, and structural policies.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; civil society; financial year; primary education; economic planning; inflation rate; secondary education; resource allocation; basic education; financial support; Agroindustries; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Malawi: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Annual Progress Report
International Monetary Fund
This paper analyzes key findings of the second progress report on Malawi’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The second progress report has focused on assessing inputs, outputs, and to some extent outcomes of the implementation of the strategy. In terms of inputs, this report analyzes expenditure by pillars, protected pro-poor activities, and functional analysis of government expenditure pattern. The outputs and outcomes analysis are presented in the report by comparing the planned activities and their targets outlined in the strategy to the actual progress and targets achieved over the second year of the implementation period.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; civil society; financial year; economic growth; local government; private sector; gross domestic product; basic education; open learning; public works; State party report; HIV and AIDS; Agroindustries; Africa; Southern Africa; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Economics, Politics, and Ethics of Primary Commodity Development: How Can Poor Countries in Africa Benefit the Most?
Uma J. Lele
,
Mr. James Jerome Gockowski
, and
Kofi Adu-Nyako
The critical role of agricultural commodities in the growth of low-income countries is examined. A combination of factors has resulted in declining agricultural prices, necessitating further increasing volumes by developing countries to maintain export earnings. But low growth in factor productivity in Africa compared to competitors caused declining export shares in African countries. A broad-based smallholder strategy based on producing commodities in which a country enjoys comparative advantage needs to be supported by productivity enhancing innovations in food and export commodities, a stable price environment, availability of infrastructure and access to credit. Such an environment requires partnership between government and private agents.
Keywords:
WP; maize price ratio; productivity gain; private sector; balance of payments; commodity price; price stabilization policy; export commodity; terms of trade; price variability result; price variability; commodity producer; public goods; variability result; commodity option; price distortion; Agricultural commodities; Agricultural sector; Agricultural exports; Exports; Africa; Asia and Pacific
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, March 1984
International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept.
This paper examines the IMF’s role in the changing world. Faced with mounting domestic and external financial imbalances, numerous African countries adopted adjustment programs supported by the use of IMF resources during 1980–81. Considerable emphasis has been given to economic growth in programs under consideration and most aimed for an increase in economic growth during the program year. Although programs generally emphasized an improvement in the external sector position, medium-term considerations did not always allow for an improvement in the current account position.
Keywords:
FD; F&D; capital; Fund; oil exporter; price distortion; policy reform; U.N. System of National Accounts; middle-income economy; IFC capital increase; Budget planning and preparation; Commercial banks; Exchange rates; Agricultural sector; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; Global; East Africa; Eastern Europe