MALAWI’S economic growth rate, which is expected to grow from the current 3,3% to 5,5% next year, is still below the required minimum for poverty reduction and employment generation in the tiny southern African country. Finance minister Cassim Chilumpha, who presented the country’s 1999-2000 budget on July 30, says real gross domestic product (gdp) is estimated to grow by 5,5% as a result of improved performance in the agriculture sector. The new projection is much higher than the minimal 3,3% growth rate achieved during the 1998/1999 fiscal year because of the fall of the kwacha and poor performance of the large-scale agriculture sector.