Government is committed to have a local government fiscal architecture that serves as a trusted and reliable vehicle for entrenching and institutionalising decentralisation on a sustainable basis.

Minister of Local Government Blessings Chinsinga said this in Lilongwe on Tuesday during the launch of the fifteenth edition of the World Bank's Malawi Economic Monitor (MEM) Report titled strengthening fiscal resilience and service delivery.

He said deepening fiscal decentralisation is at the heart of the ministry’s agenda.

"We have embarked on an ambitious reorganization of our local councils to enhance their capacity and promote professionalization. We are identifying any technical, political and structural bottlenecks that may unduly inhibit progress; and we are committed to finalising the devolution of all sector functions to ensure that we have a fit-for-purpose decentralised institutional architecture that can help deliver, entrench and institutionalise a viable and robust democratic developmental local government system that is efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of Malawians, especially at the grassroots," said Chinsinga.

The minister said he is pleased that MEM notes positive strides Performance Based Grant (PBG) has on building trust on capacities of local government systems to manage finances.

The MEM is the World Bank’s flagship publication produced twice a year which outlines the economic performance of the country with a special focus topic for each edition. The report provides a very well-grounded analysis of economic and structural development in Malawi and aims at fostering better informed policy reviews and debates regarding the key challenges our beautiful country is facing in its endeavor to contain inflation, grow the economy and spearhead prosperity for all within the framework of the Malawi 2063.

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