Ndalama Yathu
Policy

IMF mission urges decisive fiscal restraint before October budget

Programme performance is "broadly on track," but the wage bill has drifted materially beyond the agreed envelope.

Chimwemwe Phiri  Macro correspondent
6 May 2026
7 min

The fund's tone has shifted from cautious optimism to pointed warnings about wage-bill drift.

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Chimwemwe Phiri

Macro correspondent

Chimwemwe writes about macroeconomics, sovereign debt and the political economy of fiscal policy. Previously: Bloomberg and the Africa Confidential bureau in Lilongwe.

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