The Budget Monitoring Fund, a Mozambican non-governmental organization (NGO), defends a strengthening of the registry of state social action beneficiaries, claiming that there are too many people outside the system.

It is necessary to "strengthen the investment in the identification and registration process of individuals and households eligible for the various basic social security programs implemented by the National Institute for Social Action (INAS)," reads the recommendations of the Budget Monitoring Fund (FMO) to the budget execution of the first semester.

The recommendations are part of a document of analysis of the numbers published by the Government, consulted this Sunday by Lusa.

The social protection sector stands out for having high execution figures, but FMO warns that this does not correspond to a great improvement in coverage: according to the organization, "these are indications of a deficient planning process at the level of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action and INAS.

"Fundamentally, there is an underestimation of the potential beneficiaries of social protection at the level of the planning process, which ultimately results in high implementation rates," he detailed.

Taking a broader view of the 2022 plan and budget execution through June, the economic recovery after covid-19 was the only favorable factor for budget execution, with the economy growing by 4.37% in the first half of the year, leaving it in a good position to exceed the annual target of 2.9% set by the government.

On the financing side, in the first half of the year 58.7% of the domestic loans planned for 2022 have already been spent, while external grants were at only 6% - together these two tranches represent about one-fifth of the Mozambican state's financing.

On the execution side (expenditure realization), there was "a greater channeling of resources to financial operations and operating expenses" which led to a "marginalization of investment expenses, presenting a degree of realization of only 14.7%".

According to the NGO, this is a worsening of a usual practice, leading to the postponement of infrastructure and equipment projects - including health and education.

The picture leads the FMO to recommend "redoubling efforts in the execution of expenses oriented to the promotion of productive investment and fiscal consolidation, with emphasis on the containment of operating expenses.

It is also recommended to accelerate the implementation of reforms in the area of decentralization and expenditure planning.

Given the current scenario, the organization also suggests that the government continue to "implement policies aimed at promoting macroeconomic stability, with a focus on containing current inflationary pressures and supporting the process of economic recovery."

Year-on-year inflation in Mozambique was 12.1% in August, the highest in the last four years and 11 months, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

You have to go back to August 2017 to find a higher figure: at that time inflation was 14.13%, in the wake of the shock caused by hidden debts.

The rise that has taken place since the beginning of the year is in line with the global inflationary climate caused by the war in Ukraine and rising fuel prices.

In cumulative terms, since the beginning of the year, 2022 inflation in Mozambique now stands at 7.62%.