Malawi: Malawi lobbies for resumption of western aid

Malawi has sent a delegation to Washington to try and persuade the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release crucial development aid frozen three years ago, officials said on Wednesday. Last October the IMF said it would soon resume disbursing $47 million outstanding from an aid package earmarked for the impoverished southern African country under its Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement. Soon afterwards, the European Union (EU) and the Common Approach to Budgetary Support (CABS) - a group of European countries that support Malawi - also announced they would resume aid. But a senior government official said none of the donors which pledged support for Malawi last year had kept their word.