Mozambique: FMO rejects State Budget and Plan, advocates review of both – Carta

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Mozambique: FMO rejects State Budget and Plan, advocates review of both – Carta

2:26 CAT | 16 Apr 2020

Photo: Miramar

The Monitoring and Budget Forum (FMO), a Mozambican civil society organisation umbrella group, said on Wednesday (15) that the Economic and Social Plan (PES) and the State Budget (OE) for 2020 being debated in the Assembly of the Republic should not be approved by deputies without first being reviewed by the government.

Speaking at a press conference, the Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Adriano Nuvunga, who chairs the FMO, explained that the two instruments had been rejected because they did not recognise the seriousness of the effects of Covid-19 for the future of Mozambique, and because they were drafted without consulting civil society.

“This budget gives the impression that there is no Covid-19 in Mozambique. In general, it is equal to the state budgets of previous years. It is not a budget that reflects the current uncertainty on the part of our population as to what the future holds. It gives an idea that Mozambique is apart from what is happening all over the world,” Nuvunga says.

Nuvunga noted that the budget that the government was proposing was a big spender, allegedly because a large slice goes to the financing of sovereign bodies, with the emphasis on parliament itself.

“Parliament’s budget is huge, in a context where, globally, parliaments are reducing their activities and finding ways to work online. Worse still, in our case, parliamentarians want to approve devices that benefit themselves,” he noted.

Executive Director of the Civil Society Learning and Training Centre (CESC), Paula Monjane, also advocated the rejection and review of the OE and PES, reiterating, on behalf of CESC, which is part of the FMO, that the documents did not show how the Executive intended to mitigate the effects of Covid-19.

“We had hoped that this year’s OE and PES would bring, on the one hand, the prospect of containing expenditure and, on the other, greater investment in those areas that will be on the frontline against Covid-19. For example, operating expenses remain high, rising by 3.1% compared to 2019,” Monjane noted.

Monjane also raised the issue of the growing amount of unpaid debt, highlighting the increase in debt charges by 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.

“Another aspect that we see is the continuous growth of non-crucial areas to the detriment of social areas. The Presidency of the Republic and Ministry of Defence, for example. Although we realise that we are in the context of war, it is important to balance these areas in a context in which the social sectors are in much greater need of reinforcement.”

On behalf of the Community Development Fund (FDC), which is also part of the FMO, Oliveira Muscar rejected the documents, and especially the OE, for allocating a large part of its expenditure to financing government activities at central rather than district level in a year in which the state intends to expand decentralisation.

“In addition to Covid-19, there is the issue of the decentralisation about to be realised. Much of the resources were supposed to go to the most operational levels and closest to the citizens, in provinces and districts. However, if we look at the 2020 OE, we will notice that about 57% go to the central level and only the remaining 43% are reserved for provincial governments. The question that arises is whether we are serious about the decentralisation of resources closer to the citizen,” Muscar queried.

Muscar also criticised the lack of focus, in the PES, on the development of human capital, particularly related to food security, one of the problems greatly affecting the country, and reflected in the recently approved Five Year Plan.

Muscar also criticised PES and OE for not evincing any actions to help people who would lose their jobs as a result of Covide-19, something that worsens the government’s unrealistic forecast of creating three million jobs by 2024.

Director of the Citizen’s Observatory for Health Jorge Matine criticised the decrease, in real terms, of the amount invested in the health sector – down by almost 11% – and in social protection – down by 14% in real terms compared to 2019.

“And the fact that the health sector loses 11% in real terms, compared to the previous year, is a very strong indication if the government’s commitment in this sector. This happens in a year in which the experience of other countries demonstrates that, without serious investment in the health sector, it is very difficult to have an effective response to Covid-19,” he remarked.

Matine also pointed out that the reduction in funds for the health sector is not justified in the OE, and that there was no explanation for the 14% drop in the area of social protection. “In the meantime, operating expenses have risen by 14%, without being fully justified,” he said.

In view of these overall findings, FMO Chairman Adriano Nuvunga concludes that: “the State Budget and the Economic and Social Plan and PES do not reflect the current needs of the Mozambican population. Therefore, these documents must be sent back and corrected by the government.”

According to the 2020 State Budget Draft Law, public expenditure is estimated at 345.3 billion meticais, of which 228.3 billion meticais is for operating expenses, 70.9 billion meticais for investment expenses and 46 billion meticais for financial operations. This year’s State Budget reflects a deficit of 109.7 billion meticais, almost 11% of the GDP.

By Evaristo Chilingue

Source: Carta de Moçambique / Miramar