The cost of toll fees for a motorist with a lower class car comes to 80% of the basic ideal basket per person, according to the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD).

"These fees imply a monthly expenditure of 6,720 meticais for an average of 21 working days of work, about 80% of the cost of the basic basket per person currently valued at 8,401 meticais, against the monthly average of 1,680 meticais spent on the Maputo Circular Road," reads an article in CDD published this Thursday.

The NGO made this observation by analyzing the Maputo-Katembe toll that, for Class 1 vehicles "motorcycles and light vehicles" drivers must pay 160 meticais each way of the trip, i.e. 320 meticais round trip.

This situation is a barrier to the movement of people and goods that negatively impacts, albeit to varying degrees, the national household budget, the organization found.

"The costs of tolls have made the movement of people and goods more expensive and prohibitive," it reads.

In the text that addresses the lack of measures favorable to the circulation, the CDD elucidates that, even indirectly, it is visible the damage of the toll in the pockets of citizens without a car and who depend on semi-collective passenger transport for their travel.

"The burden of tolls, particularly KaTembe, is passed on by the operators through transport fees," and a citizen may spend 840 meticais in 21 days, "about 12% of the average minimum wage, around seven thousand meticais. This, stresses CDD, becomes more significant in a context where it is estimated that there are five people with the same travel needs per household in Mozambique.

In the NGO's view, the burden on the citizen has become greater with the installation of four new "illegal tolls" along the Maputo Circular Road, under the management of the Mozambique Road Network.

"Thus, and to complement the measures announced on changes in the fuel price structure and subsidy mechanisms, a review of the rates of these tolls would be opportune, contributing to ease the budgets of these families," suggests the CDD, to the extent that "the scope of potential measures to mitigate the crisis is not yet exhausted."

"Fundamentally, the idea is to reduce the weight of transportation expenses in household budgets, thus allowing families to have more resources to face the crisis," he says.