Malawi Won't Feel Effects of Global Crisis Soon (Update1)

Malawi, Africa's largest producer of burley tobacco, will probably not feel the impact of the global financial crisis immediately, and any effects are likely to be small, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe said.

``Malawi relies on its revenue from tobacco exports and because the selling season has already ended, there will be little or no impact at all,'' Gondwe told reporters in the capital, Lilongwe, today.

Tea is Malawi's second-biggest foreign-exchange earner after tobacco, generating 8 percent of total export earnings.

Malawi will be able to achieve the growth projection of 8.7 percent for this year issued earlier by both the government and the International Monetary Fund, Gondwe said.

``The economic growth of some African countries, including South Africa, are likely to slow down due to the crisis and this might translate into Malawi facing some difficulties in importing goods,'' Gondwe added. Both of Malawi's major donors, the World Bank and the IMF, have said that the global credit crunch won't affect their pledges of financial support for the southern African country, he said.