The Mozambican government must step up the fight against corruption and strengthen accountability mechanisms in order to regain the confidence of international partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which suspended support for the state budget because of hidden debtsexperts say.

The IMF representative in Mozambique, Alexis Meyer-Cirkel, recently said that the organization does not know when it will return to finance the State Budget, although it will continue to give aid.

However, the economist and researcher at the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), Leila Constantino, quoted by VOA, says that the aid does not pay off, especially since some, such as those directed at preventing and combating Covid-19, will end, although it is not known when.

Constantino says that the support to the State Budget was something already guaranteed, and the projects were designed taking into account the financing from international partners, so it is worrisome when the IMF says it does not know when it will resume this aid.

"It becomes even more worrisome because the funds were primarily intended for investment expenditure issues; those funds are needed by the country, and that's why the outcome of the hidden debts process is still being demanded," she stressed.

Meanwhile, the sociologist Francisco Matsinhe, considers that the impact of the cut in direct funding to the State Budget, is hardly felt in the social sectors, "because the health and education sectors have assistance to their partners' programs.

For other analysts, it is essential that the Government of Mozambique strengthens the fight against corruption and the mechanisms of accountability for the partners to return to finance the State Budget, which they suspended following the discovery of the hidden debts.