Mozambican economists say that the disparity continues between the public funds that go to social areas and those that go to defense and security sectors, in the proposal of the General State Budget (OE) for 2023, which for them is not a failure, but a planning, because the Government is not concerned with a development that benefits a large part of the population.

The budget proposal has already been approved by the Council of Ministers and will be debated by Parliament.

To VOA, economist João Mosca stresses that the war in Cabo Delgado takes a lot of money and that in Mozambique current expenses are low, which is why there is often no money to pay for more basic things like medicines, health and education personnel, and infrastructure maintenance.

He notes that this was evident during the critical period of Covid-19, when it was seen that schools and health care facilities did not have the minimum conditions for their operation after all.

Divestment

In his view, this means that there has been a "disinvestment in infrastructure," on the one hand, and on the other, the quality and motivation of teachers and health personnel to perform at a higher level are very low.

João Mosca says there is "a lack of interest because the children of the elite study outside the country or in private schools in Maputo and in the provincial capitals.

For that economist, it is of no interest to the power system to have good cadres in health, education, and other sectors, and he notes that the elites, when they have health problems, go outside the country, where in some cases they die.

João Mosca emphasizes that this is also reflected in the economy because this can be a danger for the elites, considering that "poverty is not a serious problem for power, it is necessary to keep poverty at a level that is not strongly intense so as not to provoke social, political and military conflicts."

Lack of investment in important sectors

"Maintaining low intensity poverty may be a purpose of the government, it is not a failure, it is planning, which means that the Mozambican state and political parties are not interested in a certain type of development that benefits a large part of the population," he accuses.

The also economist António Francisco says that social protection has been the least benefited in state budgets and stresses that social assistance "is already miserable and is already being slaughtered; this has to change."

Meanwhile, Clotilde Malate, from Action Aid, points out that the government should fulfill the commitment made in the Malabo Declaration, to allocate at least 10 percent of the State Budget to the agriculture sector.

El argues that "this investment in agriculture should reach the family sector, mostly made up of women, who face countless difficulties in their daily lives, making them dependent on the large companies that operate in agriculture and benefit from tax exemptions.

It should be noted that the State Budget for 2023 foresees a reduction in the deficit to 8.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Government's proposal to be debated in Parliament.

The budget deficit in 2023 will be 115 billion meticais, equivalent to 8.7% of GDP, which means a decrease of 5.2 percentage points from 2022.

The deficit reduction is one of the commitments made by the Mozambican government to the International Monetary Fund, under the financial assistance program of $470 million until 2025.

The 2023 figures are based on an economy growth forecast of 5% and the impact of tax reforms, so state revenues are expected to increase by about 20%.

For total expenditure an increase of around 5% is foreseen, i.e. revenue growth is expected to cover the increase in expenditure.