FILE \u2013 For illustration purposes only. [File photo: O Pa\u00eds]<\/p>\n
Mozambique has 390 million meticais (\u2248\u20ac5.2 million) in the stabilisation fund to help prevent a potential rise in fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict, Finance Minister Carla Loveira said today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fund that has been used whenever crises of this nature occur, and we have already faced the Russia\u2013Ukraine conflict, which required our country to utilise the stabilisation fund as a result of the significant increase in fuel prices. At present, the resources amount to around 390 million meticais,\u201d the Mozambican Finance Minister said on the sidelines of the event marking Taxpayer Day in Maputo.<\/p>\n
The minister explained that exercises continue to ensure the supply of fuel in Mozambique, including bank guarantees for petrol stations that import these products and the corresponding foreign currency needed to bring them into the country.<\/p>\n
Around 80% of Mozambique\u2019s fuel imports transit through the Strait of Hormuz from the Middle East, with the minister adding that the government is studying the likely impacts of the Middle East conflict on the country, particularly regarding the cost of living, exchange rate, foreign currency availability, inflation, and fuel imports, while evaluating concrete actions to address these impacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reflection, which is an ongoing task, continues to be carried out with the involvement of petrol stations and distributors, also with a view to verifying how much our country has invested for fuel coverage and how many days it allows for coverage, which in principle extends until March,\u201d explained Carla Loveira.<\/p>\n
The minister said this review also aims to reassess existing contracts to determine for how much additional time they allow fuel needs to be covered, while also analysing how long the stabilisation fund could maintain domestic fuel prices, in addition to the Government\u2019s projections for a context in which prices are revised upwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, the revision of prices under the decree governing the adjustment of the fuel price table. Therefore, it is a possibility that is indeed being considered so that it can occur, in order to respond and align the petrol sector (\u2026) to comply with the evolution of international fuel prices,\u201d she clarified.<\/p>\n
Mozambique admitted the possibility of an extraordinary budget revision if the Gulf war intensifies and causes a widespread increase in oil prices, the Finance Minister said on 20 March.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the most extreme, adverse scenario, a budget revision may indeed be necessary,\u201d Carla Loveira stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the entire impact [of the war], through imported inflation, through the increase in fuel prices and its effect on rising costs, especially of the basic basket of food products, could determine an aggravation of public expenditure\u2014not in quantitative terms, but in terms of value,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Government assured that there are \u201cno signs\u201d indicating a potential rise in fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict, and expressed willingness to engage with sector stakeholders to mitigate economic impacts.<\/p>\n
READ: Mozambique government says no signs of fuel price hike<\/a><\/p>\n Mozambique: Fuel stocks secured until next shipments arrive, 26\u201330 March \u2013 government<\/a><\/p>\n The Secretary of State for Treasury and Budget, Am\u00edlcar Tivane, confirmed on 10 March that Mozambique had 75,000 tonnes of fuel, a quantity considered sufficient until early May, acquired at prices prior to the start of the conflict, which led Iran to block passages through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n The minister also stated that Mozambique has around 85,000 tonnes of fuel at ocean terminals, which can be used if necessary.<\/p>\n