Mozambique’s Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario announced on Monday that the government had set aside 2.7 billion meticais (EUR 37 million) to pay off 17 percent of the state’s debt to the private sector.

The measure aims to “stimulate private sector participation in the national economy”, do Rosário said at the end of the XV Private Sector Annual Conference in Maputo, quoted today by Radio Mozambique.

Agostinho Vuma, president of the Confederation of Mozambican Economic Associations, the main employers’ association of Mozambique, warned the government and the central bank on Monday about the “suffocation” and “mass bankruptcy” of companies in the country.

Vuma asked the government to formulate a plan to pay overdue invoices, as well as the outstanding Value Added Tax refunds.

The CTA is currently preparing a survey of company bankruptcies in Mozambique, and intends to study mechanisms to support for the recovery of the private sector with the authorities.

- Lusa/ COM