Mozambican government admits it will be very difficult to achieve 7% growth

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambican government admits it will be very difficult to achieve 7% growth

5:54 CAT | 31 Mar 2016

Lusa (File photo) / "Zealous revenue mobilization is needed, and careful management of available resources, directing them to areas with the greatest potential for promoting inclusive economic and social development," said Mozambican Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane

The Mozambican government admitted yesterday that it will be very difficult for the country to achieve the 7 percent economic growth mentioned in this year’s government projections, citing natural disasters as the main cause for a possible downward revision.

“It is apparent that 7 percent will be very difficult to acchieve, but I did not want to advance numbers before finishing the evaluation of all the elements that formed the basis of our planning,” Mozambican Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane told reporters on the sidelines of his ministry’s first coordinating council.

Gross domestic product in 2016, Maleiane said, will depend on the second agricultural season, which ends this summer, since agriculture is the sector which has suffered most from floods in the north and drought in the south and centre of the country.

“We are now reassessing the data, taking into account, for example, the second agricultural season, because that is the area most affected by natural disasters.”

While admitting that a downward revision was possible, Maleiane stressed that the Mozambican authorities were nevertheless committed to GDP growth of between 6 and 7 percent.

In his speech to Ministry of Economy and Finance staff, Maleiane highlighted domestic revenue mobilization as a way of raising the capacity of the state to fund social spending and productive areas.

“Zealous revenue mobilization is needed, and careful management of available resources, directing them to areas with the greatest potential for promoting inclusive economic and social development,” the minister said.

Mobilizing domestic resources, said Adriano Maleiane, would also be essential to maintain the sustainability of the public debt.

The International Monetary Fund and several other independent entities already have predicted GDP growth below 7 percent for Mozambique, pointing to floods, the political and military crisis and the low price of the products that the country exports as factors in the slowdown.

Source: Lusa