On Friday, 9 May, the Government guaranteed that only duly authorised and documented public expenditure will be executed in 2025, to ensure that it is carried out within the available budgets, ensuring the rationalisation of public accounts.
‘In the context of rationalising public spending, greater predictability and budgetary sustainability, we will ensure, among other measures, the execution of expenditure that is duly recorded,’ argued Prime Minister Maria Benvinda Levi, defending in Parliament the approval of the draft law on the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) for 2025.
The minister also promised that the Executive will prioritise concessional external borrowing on favourable terms, rather than internal borrowing, to finance the budget deficit.
Levi said that the medium-term public debt management strategy will be updated and the State Procurement Centre will be operationalised to make planning more flexible, as well as to supervise and monitor the procurement processes of State institutions in order to reduce costs.
‘We will strengthen the institutional capacity of the Tax Authority with a view to improving efficiency and effectiveness, as well as modernising the taxation mechanisms of the digital economy, which will make it possible to tax economic agents who sell goods and services online, including tourism,’ said the Prime Minister.
The Executive will prioritise concessional external borrowing on favourable terms, rather than internal borrowing, to finance the budget deficit.
Recently approved by the Government at another session of the Council of Ministers, the draft law on the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget for 2025 is budgeted at 512.7 billion meticals (7.9 billion dollars).
Among the main macroeconomic assumptions underlying the 2025 PESOE is 2.9% growth in gross domestic product and an average annual inflation rate of around 7%. The outlook also points to revenues of 385.8 billion meticals (5.9 billion dollars).
For this year, projections show that the State plans to spend a total of 205.5 billion metical (3.1 billion dollars) on salaries and remuneration, an increase of more than 1.3% compared to the 202.8 billion metical recorded in 2024.
The public accounts deficit for 2025 is estimated at 126.8 billion metical (1.9 billion dollars), which is lower than the 155.8 billion metical (2.4 billion dollars) recorded in 2024 and the 145.5 billion metical (2.2 billion dollars) in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Executive plans to issue domestic debt throughout the year worth 35 billion metical (542.9 million dollars), compared to 38.9 billion metical (603.4 million dollars) issued in 2024.
