The Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, said yesterday that the country’s public debt is not out of control, assuring that everything is being done for the “sustainability” of the loans taken out by the state.
“We got the feeling that 2016 was the disaster, but no. We have not lost control,” emphasized Adriano Maleiane.
The ruler was speaking in the Assembly of the Republic (AR) during the debate of the General State Account (CGE) of 2019.
The reference that the Minister of Economy and Finance made to 2016 is related to the fact that in that year debt guarantees secretly provided by the Government then headed by Armando Guebuza were discovered, amounting to 2.2 billion dollars and which gave rise to criminal proceedings inside and outside the country.
Today, in parliament, Adriano Maleiane stressed that the executive has not lost control of the public debt, guaranteeing that the charges are within or close to the internationally required parameters.
“We are walking very well within the indicators [of debt sustainability evaluation],” Maleiane stressed.
The Minister of Economy and Finance pointed out that the ratio between debt service and Mozambique’s exports is 11.8% against the international parameter, which is 10%, and the ratio between debt service and state revenues is at 13.9% against 14%, set as the international standard.
“We are not going to take on debt that is not concessional,” stressed Adriano Maleiane, giving an account of the executive’s efforts to ensure the sustainability of the public debt.
The minister defended the emission of treasury bills for the financing of infrastructure investments, pointing out the international partners’ demand that the State must contribute with its own resources in this type of expenditures.
“There is a very big responsibility in managing public debt,” he stressed.
Adriano Maleiane did not tell MPs the exact amount of Mozambique’s public debt, but at the end of last year he informed AR that the state owed US$12.37 billion.
