Britain pledges US $94 million in aid

Britain has pledged to give Malawi US $94.8 million in development aid this year, a senior British official was quoted by AFP as saying. John Vereker, permanent secretary in Britain’s Department for International Development, said that Britain would top its aid to Malawi next year to US $102.2 million dollars. “We are long-time supporters of Malawi’s development and by far the largest donor to Malawi,” Vereker said. Vereker met President Bakili Muluzi on Friday in the former capital Zomba, 60 km from the commercial capital Blantryre. He said Malawi needed to stabilise its economy, which has been hit by uncontrolled public expenditure, inflation running near 40 percent and low levels of investment. Meanwhile, the World Bank, has said that the Malawi economy needed to grow by 6 percent annually to create wealth.