Public debt: Attorney General’s Office to launch tender to hire international auditor

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Public debt: Attorney General’s Office to launch tender to hire international auditor

9:39 CAT | 28 Oct 2016

Folha de Maputo / Prime Minister Agostinho do Rosário addressing parliament

The Attorney General’s Office will soon launch a tender for an independent international auditor to determine the facts about state-guaranteed loans to three private companies.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday in Maputo during a ‘Government Information’ session, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario, said that the tender is one of the results of the visit that President Filipe Nyusi made to the US last month.

For transparency purposes, the government will also provide clarifications to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the country’s public debt situation. The Commission is due to submit its final report by 31 November.

Renamo, the country’s main opposition party, boycotted the Commission, preferring their own plan for the creation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee involving elements from civil society in addition to members of Parliament

The Prime Minister said that the current actions are aimed at bolstering the country’s credibility internationally and “creating conditions for the start of negotiations” with the IMF for a new financial assistance program for Mozambique.

Debts estimated at approximately US$1.4 billion were contracted in favour of the Mozambican Tuna Company (Ematum), Mozambique Assets Management (MAM) and Proindicus without informing parliament, resulting in international cooperation partners suspending financial aid to the country.

At the end of June this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended the Government initiate an independent international audit.

Answering a Frelimo question on the impact of fuel price adjustments in the country, the Prime Minister said that, in the current economic situation, “it is not possible for the state to continue to compensate petrol stations and subsidize fuel prices indefinitely”.

“It is necessary to gradually remove subsidies on fuel and reduce pressure on the state budget,” he said.

Agostinho do Rosario says that the Government is aware of the impact of fuel prices on the productive sector and the lives of Mozambicans, so it will continue to support “some activities that directly benefit the population”.

Source: Folha de Maputo