Mozambique begins 2025 with a provisional budget

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Mozambique begins 2025 with a provisional budget

4:00 CAT | 02 Jan 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: RM]

The Mozambican government has decided to extend the 2024 State Budget on a provisional basis, due to the general elections held in October, with the 2025 budget expected to be approved during the first half of the year.

“The execution of expenditures outlined in the 2024 PESOE [Economic and Social Plan and State Budget] must adhere to the principle of using monthly twelfths of the allocated funds until the approval of the 2025 PESOE,” reads an informational document from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, accessed today by Lusa.

The document adds that, under the Law on the State Financial Administration System, the PESOE proposal must be submitted to the National Assembly annually by 15 October for approval by 15 December.

“However, when the preparation of the PESOE coincides with the end of the Government’s Five-Year Program (PQG), the current PESOE is extended—in this case, the 2024 PESOE—until the new PESOE is approved,” the document states.

The Five-Year Government Program is considered “the primary medium-term planning tool,” which “translates the vision and priority development objectives into concrete actions for a five-year period”—coinciding with the now-ending mandate—and is implemented annually through the PESOE during its validity period.

Mozambique held general elections on 9 October, with the current National Assembly’s mandate ending on 12 January and the President of the Republic, who holds executive power, stepping down on 15 January, when the proclaimed winners of the election are expected to be sworn in.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance document further indicates that the approval of the 2025 PESOE is “scheduled for the first half of 2025, depending on the legislative transition process and the end of the Government’s mandate.”

“The extension of the 2024 PESOE includes authorisation for the collection and accounting of revenues and the execution of planned expenditures,” the document specifies.

On 23 December, the Constitutional Council (CC) proclaimed Daniel Chapo as the winner of the presidential election with 65.17% of the vote, succeeding Filipe Nyusi. The CC also confirmed Frelimo’s victory, maintaining its parliamentary majority in the 9 October general elections.

This announcement triggered renewed unrest across the country, with supporters of Venâncio Mondlane, the presidential candidate who received 24% of the votes according to the CC, taking to the streets. Demonstrators erected barricades, looted, and clashed with police, who responded with gunfire to disperse the crowds.

At least 176 people died in the week following the announcement of the final results, bringing the total death toll since 21 October to 278, with 586 people injured by gunfire, according to the latest figures from the electoral platform Decide, which monitors electoral processes in Mozambique.

Source: Lusa