The governor of the Bank of Mozambique (BoM), Rogério Zandamela, argued last Wednesday, September 6, that the revenues from the exploitation of natural gas in the Rovuma Basin, in Cabo Delgado province, and from other minerals in other parts of the country are an opportunity to save and stabilise the state budget.
The head of the central bank, quoted by the newspaper Noticias, was speaking at the Polytechnic University, during the inaugural lecture of the third edition of the PhD programme in development studies, with the theme “The Challenges of Monetary Policy in a Context of Crisis Management”.
Rogério Zandamela defended a Sovereign Wealth Fund with well-defined rules and a transparent and functional governance structure. “I reinforce the thesis that the creation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund is a unique opportunity to change the country’s current paradigm, characterised by deficits and external dependence, to a posture of savings and financial discipline,” he said.
In his speech, he also referred to external financing, which the government has been resorting to in order to cover the budget deficit which, in his opinion, does not ensure balanced and sustainable development.
“Loans, even when they are not subject to interest payments, contribute to increasing public debt. Donations are not permanent, as they depend on the economic conditions of the donor countries and this dependence translates into uncertainties in our state budget and our development agenda,” emphasised the BdM official.
Rogério Zandamela also emphasised that “when the resources obtained through loans are mostly used for consumption rather than investment, the deficit has the particularity of generating a spiral of indebtedness, because it doesn’t contribute to increasing productive capacity, thus setting off a trap or a vicious circle”.
