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Saint Louis Studio / Steven Le Vourc'h (File photo) / Finance Minister Adriano Maleiane
The Attorney General’s Office of Mozambique says that the process of selecting an international company to audit the country’s debts is expected to start in mid-February and will last a maximum of 90 days.
This leads to call into question the timeline presented in London by the Minister of Finance himself when laying out the country’s financial situation, but Adriano Maleiane says that Mozambique will be able to regain credibility with the International Monetary Fund and countries that support the state budget and resume a normal pace of economic growth.
“It is in the interest of the Attorney General that the audit takes place because it will help, because it is an audit that comes with results or information that are to be brought to help the process,” prosecutor Taibo Mucobora said.
The mid-February start is later than the period defined by the Government for preparing a new financial aid program, but Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane says that Mozambique can regain partners’ trust.
“We believe that the Attorney General’s Office can do the job, and the state will facilitate and provide all the information. What has been discussed is heading in the right direction. We must build confidence in Mozambique so that investment flows into the country,” he said.
This IMF reiterated this week that it will not provide aid to Mozambique without public debt stability and a completed, independent, international audit.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said: “I think, again, that the IMF’s position on the audit is well known, and was discussed in Washington during a visit by the Mozambican president. It was discussed with Ms. Lagarde and we issued a statement. We welcome Mozambique’s willingness to conduct an audit, and it was agreed that this should be carried out independently by a reputable international audit firm. My understanding is that work in this direction is going forward, and we look forward to the completion of the terms of reference happening soon. So the answer to your question is that this will be an important step in our continued support of Mozambique.” stressed the
For analyst Francisco Carmona, this scenario does not present any alternative to the Mozambican government conducting an international audit, setting aside the hypothesis of Mozambique getting other partners to support the state budget.
“I wondered if Mozambique would turn to other horizons, countries like China and India, but the answer is no. We’ve been there, by the way, and it caused the situation in part. Some of our debt is money we owe China for the Ka Tembe bridge and airports. There is no other way to overcome this situation but reaching an understanding with the IMF and doing the international forensic audit, because what the IMF says about Mozambique, the other lenders will follow,” the editor of Savana newspaper said.
The Mozambican government has already hired financial and legal advisors Lazard Frères and White & Case LLP to represent the government with creditors.
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