Social Security in times of Covid-19: How INSS was called to the rescue of its main asset: jobs in Mozambique

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Social Security in times of Covid-19: How INSS was called to the rescue of its main asset: jobs in Mozambique

2:00 CAT | 11 May 2020

File photo: O País

With the number of companies closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to rise, employers are calling on the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) to play a leading role in the national economy by rescuing the institution’s main asset – jobs.

Figures released by the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA) indicate that the number of companies suspending activities had skyrocketed to 1,175 by the end of last week, with 12,160 jobs, mainly in the hotel, restaurant and transport sector, affected.

Faced with this situation, the business class is calling for measures to help companies weather the crisis, warning the INSS to avoid the depreciation of its assets and protect jobs by cutting obligations from both employers and employees.

“The INSS must be more proactive, because its essential asset, which is employment, is at risk, a situation which will affect the institution itself,” Director-General of Beluluane Industrial Park, Onório Boane, told a press conference last week.

The CTA alert comes days after the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, through the Inspector General of Labour, said that the INSS does not pay salaries, but subsidies for, for example, illness certified by health authorities.

That jobs are being compromised is a reality reported by the Secretariat of State for Youth and Employment a few days ago, when Osaldo Petersburgo stated that the crisis would affect the goal of creating three million jobs during President Filipe Nyusi second governance cycle.

Faced with this critical reality, the Director-General of the Beluluane Industrial Park, representing the CTA, urged the INSS to “evaluate how to use its position in the financial market in this crisis, namely to create lines of support for small and medium enterprises”.

By Evaristo Chilingue

Source: Carta de Moçambique