The purchasing power of Mozambicans has been deteriorating in recent years, forcing consumers to carefully calculate their spending in order to afford essential goods in the basic food basket. The Minister of Labour, Gender and Social Action, Ivete Alane, reiterated that the Mozambican government has been doing everything it can to improve citizens’ lives and ensure economic growth.
The Organization of Mozambican Workers–Central Union (OTM-CS) estimates the value of the basic food basket to be around 43,000 meticais (€571.24), in a country where the minimum wage in the private sector is set at 5,800 meticais (approximately €77) and 8,758 meticais (just over €116) in the public sector.
André Mandlate, Secretary for Legal and Labour Relations at the OTM-CS Central Council, said that employees shop with calculators in hand, given that their salaries do not cover basic needs.
“The basket calculated by OTM currently shows that a family of five needs 43,000 meticais — more than €570 — to cover a month’s expenses. The question is, if the lowest minimum wage doesn’t even reach 6,000 meticais (€79), how can this worker feed their family?” he asked.
Minister Ivete Alane reiterated that the government has been striving to improve living conditions and promote economic development. “It’s through economic growth that a country develops and fights poverty. There are also other actions carried out by the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Action, focused on protecting the most vulnerable groups,” she explained.
Discussions on setting the new minimum wage for each economic sector are scheduled to begin in August, after having been postponed in April due to protests against the electoral results.
Source: RFI
