In the first nine months of the year, the Mozambican state collected US$134.6 million (€125.5 million) in revenues from oil and natural gas exploration, applied to the new Mozambique Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSM).
Figures from the Ministry of the Economy and Finance’s economic and social balance sheet on the implementation of the state budget from January to September, to which Lusa had access on Tuesday, indicate that these revenues include US$74.1 million (€69.1 million) from 2022 and 2023, and US$60.45 million (€56.4 million) this year.
“The funds were deposited in the Transitory Account based at the Bank of Mozambique, under the terms of Article 6 of Law No. 1/2024 of 9 January, which creates the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Mozambique,” the document reads.
The Mozambican government has already completed all the necessary instruments to operationalise the FSM, which will be financed with revenues from gas exploration projects, the domestic director of Development Studies and Policies at the ministry of the economy and finance told Lusa on April 2.
Enilde Sarmento explained at the time that two of the three main instruments that were missing to operationalise the FSM had already been finalised, namely the Management Agreement, which will be signed between the government and the governor of the central bank, and the Investment Policy, as well as the fund’s regulations – which were completed and approved on 12 March.
Meanwhile, the constitution of two committees has also been finalised: the Investment Advisory Council, whose seven members are appointed by the government, and the Supervisory Committee, with members from civil society and which is the responsibility of parliament.
On 15 December last year, the Mozambican parliament approved the creation of the FSM with revenues from natural gas exploration, which by the 2040s should reach US$6 billion (€5.6 billion) a year.
“Projections indicate that annual gas exports could amount to around US$91.7 billion [€85.5 billion] nominally over the life cycle of the project, in a scenario where all the development initiatives approved so far by the government are in operation. In this scenario, annual revenues for the state will peak in the 2040s at more than US$6bn a year,” explained the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, at the time.
The Mozambican government estimated on 12 March that the FSM would be operational in April, after the regulation was approved that day, as the deputy minister of the economy and finance, Amílcar Paia Tivane, stated.”
“It also defines the procedures to ensure the transfer of resources associated with the exploitation of liquefied natural gas, and also revenues from the exploitation of future projects in the oil and gas area, setting the proportion at 60% for the state budget and 40% for the Sovereign Fund account for the first 15 years.
And from the 16th year onwards in a 50/50 ratio,” explained Amílcar Paia Tivane.
The International Monetary Fund previously considered parliament’s approval of the FSM to be “an important step” in guaranteeing “transparent and solid management” of natural resources.
Lusa
