Expected growth of agriculture industry, tourism and services influenced Mozambique’s budget

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Expected growth of agriculture industry, tourism and services influenced Mozambique’s budget

4:18 CAT | 18 Oct 2022

File photo: Lusa

The Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, said in Washington that the expected growth in agriculture, industry, tourism and services in Mozambique was included in the forecast of economic growth of 5 percent for 2023.

In an interview with Lusa in the US capital, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Tonela explained that the projections made by the government were based not only on the “not very optimistic scenario” felt worldwide, but also on the work that the executive has carried out to boost economic growth.

“Our outlook takes into consideration the growth projections or the evolution of the world economy, in which we have a not very optimistic scenario, mainly due to the situation derived from the war in Ukraine, with negative impacts at the level of prices, especially of commodities and of fuels. And since fuels are a key commodity for fertilisers, this impacts food prices globally,” he said.

“We took into consideration the growth projections of the national economy, these assumptions too, but we also took into consideration the work that the Government has been doing to promote the stimulation of the growth of the national economy. And taking into account the growth forecast for agriculture and also for industry, tourism and services, our projection is for growth to stand at around 5 percent in 2023,” he added.

The Mozambican government’s draft plan and state budget for 2023, approved earlier this month by the Council of Ministers and to be submitted to parliament, anticipates economic growth of 5 percent and inflation of 11.5 percent in 2023.

This year, and according to the figures recorded by the National Statistics Institute (INE) until August, inflation in Mozambique stands at 7.62 percent.

In terms of economic growth, Mozambique’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.37 percent in the first half of 2022 and the IMF – which in May reopened the country’s access to funding – forecasts 3.8 percent growth at the end of the year.

Mozambican economists told Lusa on Wednesday that these economic targets were achievable, but warned of the context of uncertainties worldwide.

Source: Lusa