PM urges all parties to help restore Mozambique’s credibility

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

PM urges all parties to help restore Mozambique’s credibility

9:20 CAT | 10 Jun 2016

Notícias

Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on Thursday pledged that the government would work to regain Mozambique’s prestige and credibility in the shortest possible time.

He was closing the debate on the country’s public debt at a two day extraordinary sitting of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, called to discuss the crisis arising from the undisclosed loans inherited from the previous government, led by President Armando Guebuza.

The loans, totaling over 1.1 billion US dollars, are to two companies, Proindicus and Mozambique Asset Management (MAM), which are owned by the Defence Ministry and the intelligence service, SISE. Together with the known loan of 850 million dollars acquired by the Mozambique Tuna Company (EMATUM), through the European bond market, this lending, all guaranteed by the government, added over two billion dollars to the foreign debt. When the loans were discovered they precipitated a suspension of financial aid from Mozambique’s main international partners.

Rosario said that, despite “differences in approach”, all deputies in the Assembly, regardless of party affiliation, “are committed to regaining the credibility and good image of the country internationally”.

The government was committed to “good governance”, he added, and so would rely on “the active participation of the deputies and of our cooperation partners in improving the legislation to ensure better fiscal transparency and management of public assets”.

Opposition deputies had repeatedly described the government guarantees for EMATUM, Proindicus and MAM as illegal, and called for measures to be taken against Guebuza and former finance minister Manuel Chang. But Rosario insisted that such matters must be left in the hands of the prosecution services and the courts.

“We should continue to place our full trust in the bodies of the administration of justice”, he said, urging the deputies “to wait calmly and without interference for the conclusion of the work under way by the competent bodies to clarify how the guarantees were issued, how the loans were contracted, and how the resources were used”. The main “competent body” is the Attorney-General’s office, which has already announced that investigations have been launched into all three loans.

Rosario repeated his argument of Wednesday that it would be dangerous just to default on the debts – that might damage the country’s international standing still further. On the other hand servicing these debts could not be allowed to take priority over the government’s social programmes.

Paying off the Proindicus and MAM loans, rather than financing education, health, agriculture or water supply “would in no way meet the undertakings we have given to the Mozambican people”.

Rosario again insisted that the prime responsibility for paying off the loans lay with the three companies themselves. They would have to redesign their business plans, find partners and, if necessary, sell off assets.

The Prime Minister insisted that Mozambique has the potential to recover, despite the debt crisis, despite the fall in the prices of several of its main exports, and despite the drought that struck much of the country this year. But it was crucial that the armed attacks of Renamo gunmen should stop.

“To allow a rapid increase in production and the growth of our economy, which are determinant conditions for honouring our international obligations, the guns must fall silent”, Rosario declared.

Source: AIM