By Frank Jomo
Malawi’s external debt rose 11 percent in 2017 from a year earlier to reach 1.49 trillion kwacha ($2.06 billion), the highest since at least 1984, according the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
Debt servicing fell 24 percent to 23.8b kwacha, including interest payments of 12.7b kwacha, the central bank said in a statement on its website.
The country, which ranks among the poorest in Africa, relies on foreign aid to finance as much as 40 percent of its budget.
