, you have been on the project from 2006. i have every reason to believe that all details, drawings, and necessary information for the contractor to start construction are available. to the management of sr nicholas limited, this is another challenge and our expectations are that 24 months from the contract commencement we shall all be here, receiving a quality product. i have also been informed that the electrical subcontract has not been concluded yet. i would like to assure you that by the time the main contractor goes on site ; the electrical subcontractor will have been procured. we are working round the clock to conclude the matter. the construction period of 24 months is ambitious but achievable as has been seen elsewhere. the bank wishes to call upon each of you to join hands as partners in completing the project on time. we therefore request you, as usual, to come up with a buildable programme that will include all operations to ensure a successful conclusion and delivery of the mzuzu branch offices. on behalf of the governor of the reserve bank of malawi, i welcome you all to this precontract meeting and look forward to an exciting journey ahead of us culminating in the successful completion of the project. with these few remarks i declare the site handed over to the contractor ; sr nicholas. i thank you for your attention and may god bless us all.

performance. we should at all cost avoid this. this course on financial programming is designed to take care of this problem by addressing inter - linkages between sectors and trade - offs associated with different policy mixes. the main challenge of making sound policy choices however still remains with principal officers in our institutions. the financial programming framework makes for more informed policy decisions and is not in itself a substitute for all important policy making process. ladies and gentlemen the programme for this course is quite comprehensive and covers theoretical issues, practical linkages and applications. the course also covers an analysis of the key macroeconomic accounts in an economy ( the general government, non financial corporations, financial corporations, households and non profit institutions serving households ). we hope that resource persons will demonstrate how an appropriate set of policy measures can be developed and coordinated to promote growth and achieve macroeconomic adjustment. the course will of course also cover forecasting techniques. at the end of the course, it is our expectation that the tools and techniques imparted to participants will help them achieve the following : – sharpen their understanding of the essential sectoral linkages and their impact on policy design ; – improve capacity in forecasting and projection skills and applications to policy formulation ; – improve appreciation of policy trade - offs and consistency ; – enhance appreciation of the sequencing issues in policy design and implementation and the importance of commitment to see policy measures run their course. this should enable participants tackle the following : formulate in a fairly precise way the nature of interrelationships among sectors of the economy ; establish outcomes of various policy options and ; recommend desirable policy packages and possible sequencing of measures. ladies and gentlemen, i appreciate that this is a fairly heavy agenda for the two week period, but i would like to believe that you will be up to the challenge. mefmi capacity building events fortunately are not designed as holiday packages! note however, that as in any learning process, the ultimate success of this programme will hinge upon the extent to which each and every participant exerts himself or herself. needless to say there is great potential for you to learn from each other as you come from diverse backgrounds and experiences, and there are unique contributions that each one of you can bring to the table. it is therefore my hope that after this course, you will go out fully motivated to make a difference at your places of work by implementing what you have learnt. share the fruits of this course with colleagues in your respective institutions. this is the very essence of the me