The economic reforms introduced by the government as part of the launch of the Economic Acceleration Package (EAP) in August 2022 are already producing promising results, and are also contributing to attracting more investment and improving the business environment.
Giving a general analysis, the coordinator of the Office for the Coordination of Economic Reforms (GCRE), João Macaringue, said that, in recent times, priority had been given to implementing “quick win” measures, centred on fiscal stimuli and the rationalisation of the tax system.
“At the end of 2022, the government reduced the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) from 17 per cent to 16 per cent, exempted the same tax on imported agricultural inputs and electrification and reduced Corporate Income Tax (IRPC) from 32 per cent to 10 per cent for the Agriculture, Aquaculture and Urban Transport sectors,” he explained.
Mentioned on Monday (15) by Further Africa, he pointed out that the measures have injected a considerable boost into companies, freeing up resources for modernisation, overheads and improving the workplace.
“The efforts to improve the management of natural resource revenues are paying off, as in the last quarter of 2023 we saw a 30 per cent annual increase in mining tax revenues. Reforms to public procurement rules and processes are also slowly driving greater utilisation of local suppliers and national industry,” he described.
Macaringue stressed that progress had been made in strengthening governance, transparency and digitalisation throughout the public sector.
“Also within the SAP, a new electronic visa system has been implemented, which has accelerated border crossing procedures, with more than 50,000 applications having been processed since its creation. The revision of the judicial system is introducing greater automation and remote access to judicial services,” he clarified.
Regarding the materialisation of the Sovereign Fund, the coordinator stressed that it is in the regulatory phase and could be operational within a few days. “The launch of the Loan Guarantee Fund is also imminent”.
“Although some initiatives, such as the expansion of public spending audits, are still underway, the overall picture is one of constant and tangible progress,” he concluded.
