The state recorded a 10.2% increase in spending on salaries and wages in the civil service during the first half of 2024, totalling almost 101.4 billion meticals. This figure corresponds to 53.9 per cent of the estimated amount for the whole year, which is 188.2 billion meticals, according to Lusa.
According to the State Budget (OE)~ execution report, released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), this performance reflects an increase on the 88.1 billion meticals spent in the same period of 2023.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said in Parliament on 7 August that the implementation of the Single Wage Scale (TSU) was essential to reducing discrepancies in salaries in the civil service, resolving a long-standing problem in the Mozambican public administration.

The introduction of the TSU, despite having generated opposition and ‘noise’, was highlighted by the President as an important step towards creating ‘wage balance’. Nyusi stressed that the new scale made it possible to double the minimum wage in the civil service and significantly increase salaries in the Defence and Security Forces, while at the same time reducing the wage gap between various levels.
‘Salaries had a strong component based on non-pensionable allowances. Every director, minister or president [of public institutions] had extraordinary payments and there were many extraordinary payments. Now, most of these allowances have been incorporated into the basic salary,’ said the President, stressing that “it was difficult and noisy maths,” although necessary.
The TSU also eliminated some allowances that previously had a significant weight on the payroll, incorporating them into the basic salary. However, its implementation led to strikes and protests from various professional classes, such as doctors and teachers, who faced salary delays and cuts.
Approved in 2022, the TSU had a significant impact on state finances, increasing the wage bill by around 36 per cent, from 11.6 billion meticals a month to 15.8 billion meticals. The total cost of the TSU was around 28.5 billion meticals, higher than initially forecast.