Mozambique’s Minister of Finance, Carla Louveira, accused the World Bank (WB) of using outdated statistics in its latest report, which ranks the country as the second poorest in the world. According to the minister, the data used raises doubts about the assessment of poverty.
Speaking on Tuesday, April 7, on the sidelines of Mozambican Women’s Day celebrations in Maputo, Carla Louveira explained that the report was based on outdated data, which undermines its conclusions.
As a result, headlines describing Mozambique as “the second poorest country” on the planet have proliferated. Carla Louveira believes this characterization does not reflect the national reality.
The minister describes the statement as “obviously false,” arguing that it would place Mozambique in a position inferior to that of countries affected by conflict, such as Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, or South Sudan.
Carla Louveira also pointed out that this is not the first time the World Bank has been accused of disseminating inaccurate information about Mozambique. In the late 1990s, the institution was linked to data that supported the dismantling of the cashew nut processing industry.
At the time, statistics considered fraudulent were used, according to which processed cashews were said to be worth less than unprocessed ones. The minister believes there are similarities with the current situation.
According to Carla Louveira, although the report was published in March 2026, the data used dates back to 2019. “The statistics used were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic and published in 2022,” she stated.
The minister added that the World Bank limited itself to analyzing “consumption poverty,” which assesses whether families can afford a basic food basket. In contrast, the government adopts the broader concept of “multidimensional poverty.”
Carla Louveira also emphasized that the analysis timeline applied to Mozambique differed from that used in other countries. “In many of those countries, the comparative analysis was based on recent household surveys,” she said, arguing that more current data would present a different picture.
When asked about the early repayment of Mozambique’s debt to the International Monetary Fund, Carla Louveira clarified that the payment was not made using funds from the national budget. “Our country has available net international reserves,” she stated, referring to the government’s external funds.
As she explained, these reserves remain sufficient to cover four to five months of imports of goods and services. The settled debt, amounting to more than 514.04 million Special Drawing Rights (SDR), equivalent to $701.4 million, was paid with these resources and had only a “slight impact.”
Source: Agência de Informação de Moçambique (AIM)
