Mozambique: Nyusi instructs government to adopt relief measures on cost of living – Watch

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Mozambique: Nyusi instructs government to adopt relief measures on cost of living – Watch

3:34 CAT | 15 Jun 2022

Photo: TVM

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Minister of Transport and Communications and new Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, the President of the Republic recognises that life is increasingly expensive in Mozambique.

Filipe Nyusi says it is urgent to implement measures to reduce the cost of living in the country, especially for the most vulnerable social groups.

This is the first time that the President of the Republic has spoken publicly and exhaustively about the cost of living in Mozambique, attributing the phenomenon to general increases in the price of products on the international market.

“We are fully aware of the price increase – the erosion of purchasing power in Mozambican families. My government considers it urgent and necessary to implement measures to reduce the cost of living for Mozambicans,” President Nyusi said. “We know that any measure has its implications. However, I recommend that the cadres now taking office join the colleagues who are already working to mitigate the cost of living for Mozambicans. The cost of living is no longer a song, nor is it a joke; it is a reality in Mozambique and in the world,” the Mozambican head of state said.

President Nyusi says that the projections of prices of essential goods, especially cooking oil and cereals, lead to the conclusion that this is a moment of crisis that requires a firmer intervention by the government. He added that the executive should immediately assess relief measures, even if in the short term the focus is on measures which attack the structure of the cost of imported fuels.

“These measures may contemplate subsidies to the formal passenger transport sector, they are of an extraordinary nature and will have a negative impact on the balance of public accounts, as well as on the ratios related to the macroeconomic management of foreign exchange reserves. However, they will allow the mitigation of inflationary effects, as long as external shocks persist, and mitigate the deterioration of the living conditions of Mozambicans, especially those in need,” the president said.

The measures were announced this Tuesday at the inauguration ceremony of the new Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, and of the new Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, António Saíde.

Watch the TVM report.