The Government is assessing the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 on the Mozambican economy. The goal is to adopt measures that can reduce the negative effects of the disease on the country's growth targets.

The assurance was given this Thursday in Maputo by Enilde Sarmento, of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the debate on the theme "The first year of Covid-19 in Mozambique: Dynamics and socio-economic implications", in the scope of the II Scientific Conference, organized by the National Institute of Health, in partnership with Sociedade do Notícias, Rádio Moçambique and TVM.

According to her, the Ministry of Economy and Finance conducted a survey last year on the impact of the pandemic which revealed that there had been a reduction in household consumption because of weak demand for goods and services.

"The reduction in consumption was caused by the decrease in household income because of the decrease in production of companies and labor. The urban population was the most affected," he said.

Another area severely affected, according to the source, was supply, due to reduced production by domestic companies and restrictions from countries that have considerable trade relations with our country.

In her turn, Isabel Casimiro, representing the Eduardo Mondlane University, said that the pandemic had several negative consequences and the challenges it poses have quite different impacts on the various strata of society.

Alexandre Marrupi, from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the urgent need for the country to have up-to-date data that can support well-designed interventions and policy responses.

On the occasion, it was also mentioned that, in order to analyze the impacts of this pandemic on the Mozambican economy and population, the World Bank is supporting a series of high frequency telephone surveys, implemented by INE, currently focused on urban areas.