President of the Republic, Daniel Chapo, demanded on Thursday, May 22, that the Ministry of Finance ensure transparency in the payment of invoices, calling for clear criteria and acknowledging delays and debts owed to suppliers of goods and services to the State.
“Honoring commitments is not just a technical matter, but also one of public ethics. We recognize that we owe our suppliers, and they need these resources to continue providing goods and services to the State,” said Chapo during a working visit to the institution.
The Head of State emphasized the need for sensitivity and clear criteria when paying these debts, stressing that Mozambicans are expecting transparency. “We must settle what we owe and prevent new debts from arising as much as possible. It’s a matter of honoring the State, so we can restore trust with our suppliers.”
During the visit, the President also called for faster service delivery, arguing that civil servants must not be specialists in making things more complicated. “We have colleagues who are experts in complicating things. We need public servants to start simplifying processes in order to make things easier and address citizens’ concerns with transparency, respect, and humility.”
Chapo also defended the expansion and modernization of the tax base. “Modernizing is more than digitizing — it’s about simplifying, facilitating, giving clarity and transparency to citizens, explaining with humility, responsibility, and competence, not complicating.”
Finance Minister Carla Louveira announced that the State owes 6.9 billion meticais (about 107 million USD) to suppliers and service providers, but assured that the amounts will be regularized and that this figure refers to debts accumulated until 2023.
“The 6.9 billion meticais are existing debts in the system, accumulated until 2023. We conducted a survey, which is published in the Public Debt Financing Strategy, and further work is being done to determine whether there are other potential debts,” the minister explained.
According to Louveira, the General Inspectorate of Finance is still responsible for verifying the invoices before payment can be made. She also revealed that the debts from last year, amounting to 10 billion meticais, have all been settled. In the past, the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA) had already called for the State Budget to include an annual allocation of 50 million USD to pay overdue invoices, due to the difficulties these delays cause for businesses.
Source: Diário Económico
