The Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centro de Integridade Pública (CIP) considers it urgent that the State cuts personnel-related expenses, revealing that these have grown 63% in five years, which may constitute a risk to public finances.
“It is important and urgent to reduce expenditure, mainly on personnel and pensions, as these may constitute a risk to public finances,” reads the analysis made by CIP, of the Administrative Court (TA) report on the General State Account for 2021.
Personnel expenses “have been increasing year after year”, with from 2020 to 2021 growing from 124.4 billion meticais to 139.2 billion meticais, a variation of 12%, the organisation notes.
“The situation becomes increasingly critical when one analyses the evolution of this expenditure from 2017 to 2021″, with an increase of about 63%. In 2017, the expenditure was 85.1 billion meticais.
Despite attempts, the CIP states in the analysis that it was unable to obtain detailed information about this growth in expenditure, a complaint about the lack of data that is made about several other points in the State accounts.
The analysis takes on new meaning given that the Government has made a commitment this year to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce the civil service wage bill to levels equal to neighbouring countries.
“It is important and urgent to reduce spending, mainly on staff and pensions, as these can pose a risk to public finances”
The commitment is part of the memorandum that underpins the IMF’s financial aid programme to Mozambique of $470 million by 2025.
“The weight of the figures audited by the TA, on personnel and other transfers, justifies having details on the destination given to the money,” argues the CIP.
“The execution of expenditure on personnel and current transfers has a weight of 70.3% of total current expenditure. As such, a separate and detailed analysis of these two components is important and urgent,” notes the organisation.
Still on the subject of 2021 expenses, the CIP highlights the “urgent” need for “clarification and publication of all expenses incurred with the training of agricultural extension workers”, in view of reports of irregularities in contracts and lack of payments.
There is still a risk to the State’s accounts, it adds, because, “as in previous years, a considerable part of investment expenses financed with external funds was not executed through the Treasury Single Account. This fact not only violates the law, but also represents a risk in the control of public funds,” the NGO said.
In general, the TA report on the 2021 accounts, like previous reports, highlights the existence of a “deficient internal control system”, mainly at the central level, concludes the CIP.
