The Ministry of Economy and Finance says it has not asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for debt ratios to exclude specific bonds for countries in military conflict, it said on Friday in a note sent to Lusa.

"There is and was no request from Mozambique on the initiative under discussion" on Wednesday during the fourth Forum on Resilience in Africa, organized on the Internet by the African Development Bank (AfDB), he clarifies - that is, the IMF did not reject any request from Mozambique on debt sustainability analysis, because there was not one.

At issue is the announcement by the ADB that it is preparing a debt issue specifically for countries affected by conflict, such as Mozambique, so that they can finance themselves to re-launch their economies, particularly in the hardest hit regions.

In a panel discussion in which Abebe Selassie, director of the African department of the IMF, also participated, the Mozambican Minister of Economy and Finance "questioned the panel partner about what would be the treatment of SIIBs [the instrument announced by the ADB] in the IMF's evaluation of debt sustainability.

"The IMF director for Africa responded" and the minister, Adriano Maleiane, "agreed with the explanation given," without any request, concludes the same note from the Ministry.

The debate was entitled "The nexus between security, economic growth and investment."

In the final part, dedicated to quick questions among the participants, Adriano Maleiane asked Abebe Selassie: "How is this [this new instrument] going to be treated in terms of debt sustainability analysis?"

"My first reaction, conceptually, is that if the instrument creates debt and risk, it has to be treated as such, and not to be viewed that way is to try to cover up the debt and not face reality," the director of the IMF's African department responded.

Lusa Agency