Maputo, 08 Oct (AIM) – The Mozambican government has announced a plan to pay its debt estimated at 81.3 billion meticais (around 1.27 billion US dollars at the current exchange rate), while introducing measures to prevent the accumulation of new unpaid commitments.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Carla Louveira, in the central city of Beira, Sofala province, at the close of the ministry’s Coordinating Council meeting.
According to Louveira, a government assessment had revealed a complex financial situation, with 38.9 billion meticais (around US 608 million dollars) recorded as unpaid expenditure owed to suppliers, in addition to a potential liability of 33 billion meticais (around US 516 million dollars).
She explained that the strategy approved by the Council of Ministers (cabinet) is based on three main measures: validating all old debt within 90 days; making direct annual payments of six billion meticais (around US 94 million dollars) to small suppliers, with priority given to the health and defence sectors; and preparing and publishing an explanatory note and procedural manual establishing clear criteria, a risk map, control mechanisms and measures to hold those responsible for generating new liabilities accountable.
The strategy also provides for adjustments to the decree governing the delegation of powers, with the aim of preventing commitments without budgetary cover and ensuring that no government unit contracts expenditure outside its budget and plan.
“Wages and debt servicing currently consume 86 percent of the revenue collected by the country each month, leaving limited resources for public investment. That’s why we call for strict management of personnel expenditure and continued audits of the payroll system to identify and prevent so-called ghost salaries”, she said.
The Minister added that the government procurement will be fully digitized, with paper-based tenders to be phased out and procurement processes migrated to the Centralized State Procurement system.
She also directed the Procurement Agency to complete by December 2026 the physical and institutional conditions required for its operations, including the construction of its headquarters, approval of its organic statute and internal regulations, as well as the establishment of its staffing structure, paving the way for the first centralized procurements in early 2027.
(AIM)
Zt/Am/
