Payments by Mozambican State Business Sector (SEE) companies to the state fell by 3% in 2022, to 28.5 billion meticals (410.8 million euros), but continued to generate a surplus in the public accounts.
According to this month’s annual report analysing the financial health of the Mozambican SEE, from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and consulted today by Lusa, these dividends contrast with the 29.4 billion meticals (423.8 million euros) in 2021 and the 14.2 billion meticals (204.7 million euros) in 2020.
The report analysed the financial situation of 11 totally state-owned companies and 10 exclusively and majority-owned by the state.
In the opposite direction, the state invested around 5.5 billion meticals (79.3 million euros) in the SEE in 2022, in investment contributions, while in the previous year this support totalled 3.5 billion meticals (50.5 million euros) and in 2020 around three billion meticals (43.2 million euros), including investment subsidies.
‘These transactions are fundamental due to the difficulties faced by some SEE companies during the pandemic crisis and the need to resume their activities,’ reads the report, which details that in 2022 the support to the SEE involved programme contract financing, investments, payment of the companies’ sovereign debt and treasury support.
In 2020, these companies recorded a turnover of 122.8 billion meticals (1,770 million euros), equivalent to 12.6 per cent of Mozambique’s gross domestic product (GDP), which grew by 3.7 per cent in 2021, to 127.4 billion meticals (1,836 million euros), equivalent to 11.4 per cent of GDP, skyrocketing by 23 per cent in 2022, to 156.7 billion meticals (2,259 million euros), reaching the equivalent of 13.3 per cent of GDP.
The Mozambican SEE recorded losses of 6.1 billion meticals (87.9 million euros) in 2020, which were reversed the following year, with profits of 14.2 billion meticals (204.7 million euros) which grew by a further 9.8 per cent in 2022, to 11.9 billion meticals (171.5 million euros).
‘The consolidated balance sheet of the SEE proved to be stable and robust with notable increases in net assets of around 29 per cent between 2020 and 2022,’ the report goes on to say.
It adds that the results of the analysis showed that 2022 was ‘relatively better for SEE companies when compared to previous periods’, in which the economic and financial health of these companies was ‘moderate’ overall, but that ‘challenges prevail in the sector, which should merit greater attention from the state’.
‘Challenges persist in the fulfilment of SEE objectives. Some companies have a dual mission of meeting both social and economic objectives. This duality translates into a paradox between social provision and maximising optimal profit in a competitive market. In view of the results of the economic and financial analysis of the SEE, it is necessary to change the funding criteria in favour of these companies by the state,’ concludes the report.
Lusa
