Mozambique “negligent” in monitoring of public finances – CIP

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Mozambique “negligent” in monitoring of public finances – CIP

10:42 CAT | 02 Feb 2016

Lusa (File)

The Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) in Mozambique said on Tuesday that the government has been negligent in monitoring the Public Finance Management (GFP) process, citing as evidence the European Union’s assessment that performance in this area had worsened.

“The CIP, on this note, wants to emphasize the negative trend that seems to have resulted from the government’s neglect to pay attention to key processes for a smooth implementation of GFP,” reads the NGO’s statement. The CPI monitors political and economic management in Mozambique.

In the spotlight is a November 2015 European Union assessment of the quality and control of public spending made under the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA ) protocols, which the CIP says was “anticipated with high expectations by the donor community and other key players in the area of public finance in the country, as the Government’s plans to organize an assessment for 2013 had never materialized”. The last assessment was undertaken in 2010.

In analyzing the assessment, experts Jorge Matine and Celeste Filipe consider that “between 2010 and 2015 the assessment of GFP in Mozambique showed a slight decrease, from 2.87 to 2.72”, but the decrease itself is not the most worrying factor.

“The average itself is not so bad, but what is more worrying is the number of indicators that have the worst score (D), increasing from 4 to 7,” out of a total of 31 indicators, the experts write.

Among the recommendations made to the government, the CIP notes that “the trend of increase in notes with value ‘D’ should not be accepted and needs an explanation from the government of how such a deterioration was possible,” particularly in the context of the lack of liquidity resulting from the devaluation of the metical.

“It is important that the government demonstrates openness and seriousness as to correcting the poor performance presented in this review” because, if the problem is not fixed, the CIP anticipates the executive having to take corrective measures, “since it has already started a program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the request of the government itself”.

At stake is the need to “respect the composition of expenditure compared with the approved budget, avoid expenditure arrears, increase efficiency in tax collection and in the procurement process and provide information on resources received by each service unit,” says the CIP.

On the relationship with donors, an important source of revenue for Mozambique, the CIP recommends an information system “for project and program budgeting, and the strengthening of systems to manage donor funds in Mozambique”.

Source: Lusa