Analysts warn that Mozambique risks having important sectors such as health, education and infrastructures deteriorate if it does not reduce its wage bill, which is considered quite high by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
An IMF mission was recently in Mozambique and one of its findings was that salaries are high, an assessment with which economist Estrela Charles agrees, because, particularly with the implementation of the Single Wage Table, the wage bill has increased a lot, although this does not benefit the lower classes.
The economist, who is also a researcher at the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), said that it was necessary to reduce the extremely high salary mass, which consumes around 90 percent of national production.
For the analyst Egídio Plácido, the IMF assessment is correct and reflects the Mozambican reality, “because our economy is essentially one of service provision and not production.
Low wage economy
However, economist João Mosca, for whom the position of the IMF aims to create a low wage economy and also low costs, particularly for land, which is almost zero.
“What the IMF says is nothing more than prolonging the characteristics of underdevelopment of the Mozambican economy for the benefit of multinationals from developed countries,” says Mosca.
The trade unions also do not agree with the IMF position, because the wages of most Mozambican workers do not meet the basic basket, which is why, according to Alexandre Munguambe, from OTM Central Sindical, the struggle continues for the improvement of workers’ conditions.
Meanwhile, the Mozambican Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, assumes that the weight of the wage bill in the State Budget has been increasing, stressing that with this trend it is difficult for the State to meet its obligations to build public infrastructures and provide services.
However, he noted that, in 2023 and 2024, the trend will be down.
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