Mozambique considers that there has been positive progress in its cooperation with Portugal, in its many aspects, but the Mozambican government says that it would be desirable to see a return to direct support from the state budget (OE).

The information was provided by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Amílcar Tivane, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), which ended yesterday, Friday, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

"Direct support from the state budget would be desirable, of course, but we need to see cooperation with Portugal in its many aspects," said Amílcar Tivane in a statement to the Lusa news agency, considering that "the funding we have been receiving in other areas, and institutional capacity building, have been helping to boost the Mozambican economy".

It should be remembered that Portugal, like other countries and institutions, suspended direct support to Mozambique's budget following the hidden debts affair, a scheme that defrauded the state of more than 2.7 billion dollars in debt contracted from international banks between 2013 and 2014.

Amílcar Tivane admitted that, "naturally, with this reduction in direct budget support flows, there was a need for the country to make efforts to mobilize additional resources", which has been achieved with effort.

"We are talking about internal resources to ensure that the country continues to provide and continues to carry out its investment program in the field of infrastructure, in the social area, accumulation of human capital, job creation," he said.