Malawi: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (January 29-February 4, 2025)
Technical Assistance Reports, April 9, 2025
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- Malawi: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (January 29-February 4, 2025)
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Bibliographic details
- Published: April 9, 2025
- Series: Technical Assistance Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229007269.019
Assessment context and scope
- Assessment based on the IMF’s Data Quality Assessment Framework for PSDS.
- Mission dates: January 29-February 4, 2025.
- Assessment undertaken in February 2025 as part of a project to strengthen public sector debt data in select African countries, funded by the Government of Japan.
- Macroeconomic context: the latest joint IMF-World Bank debt sustainability analysis of January 2024 indicates that the country is in debt distress.
- Recent legal reform: In 2022, Malawi enacted a new Public Finance Management Act providing a legal framework for government borrowing as well as the issuance and management of guarantees by government including guarantees to State-owned enterprises.
Key findings from the diagnostic assessment
- Quality and coverage issues affecting public sector debt statistics (PSDS), consistent with challenges faced by many low-income countries servicing public debt.
- Specific thematic gaps identified:
- Sector coverage limited to the budgetary central government.
- Instrument coverage incomplete, excluding other accounts payables.
- Inconsistencies between stocks and flows that require reconciliation.
- Low frequency and limited dissemination of public debt reports.
- Inactive dissemination channels: National Summary Data Page and the joint IMF-World Bank Quarterly Public Sector Debt statistics database need reactivation.
Principal recommendations
- Enact a new legislation to address public debt management operations in line with the practice in the region.
- Expand sector coverage of public debt beyond the budgetary central government.
- Expand instrument coverage to include other accounts payables.
- Reconcile stocks and flows and publish the reconciliation results transparently.
- Enhance the frequency of public debt reports.
- Reactivate dissemination of debt through:
- the National Summary Data Page, and
- the joint IMF-World Bank Quarterly Public Sector Debt statistics database.
Authorities’ response and implementation
- The authorities have adopted recommendations.
- An action plan has been developed to implement the recommendations in a phased manner.
Content in this bundle
- Section I. Detailed Assessment and Recommendations