The Economics Association of Malawi (Ecama) has bemoaned the absence of direct investment into the energy sector in the 2018/19 national budget.

In his budget statement presented to Parliament on Friday, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe conceded that intermittent power supply is one of the challenges negatively affecting private sector activities.

In the statement, Gondwe painted a gloomy picture of the situation, saying the situation would only stabilize after 2021, mainly banking on the Malawi- Mozambique interconnector.

He could also not give a detailed account of allocations towards energy sector revitalization in the financial plan.

In an interview, Monday, Ecama President, Chikumbutso Kalilombe, said the economists’ body was not amused that the budget could omit the sector amid continued calls from stakeholders for heavy investment therein.

“Possibly, the government is happy and puts all trust in developments taking place in other sectors. However, these need to move fast as, without reliable energy, we cannot achieve meaningful growth.

“The power blackouts are affecting the output of the existing industry players, plus we would say it hinders both foreign investment inflows into the economy which [inflows] would have spurred the much-needed growth,” he said.

Kalilombe further said the budget seems only to target short-term measures to achieve economic growth.

He said, while it covers some needs of the populace, the financial plan appears, mostly, to be consumption-focused, with little being offered on long-term structures to shape the economy going forward.

“The success of the budget depends on how revenue projections shape up. The minister mentioned projections for revenue growth at above 7 percent up from those of last financial year. We hope we have a strong basis for making such a prediction.

“We are also quite surprised by the assumption that revenue will grow on last financial year considering the challenges that were experienced. We can therefore only hope for the best,” Kalilombe said.

In an earlier interview, Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) faulted Gondwe for omitting the private sector in the government’s drive to spur economic growth.