Prime minister calls for calm
Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane on Friday urged the public to keep calm, and to give the government time to continue implementing measures to alleviate the high cost of living which he blamed on “the international macro-economic conjuncture”.
Speaking to reporters outside the Angolan embassy in Maputo, where he had gone to sign the book of condolences for the death of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Maleiane said “it is important that we stay united to do what should be done. My appeal is to maintain our serenity. We need to be calm. The government is on many fronts. We have to end the conflict in Cabo Delgado, and we have to fight against the crimes that make our life difficult”.
The current cost of living crisis has been blamed on the rising price of fuel. Maleiane said that liquid fuels are crucial for the economy, but the government has taken measures to reduce the price. It has altered the price structure and has persuaded fuel distributors to reduce their profit margins.
These measures, Maleiane said, meant that, in the latest price rise it was possible to hold the price of petrol to 87 meticais (1.4 US dollars) a litre. Without the government’s measures, the price would have been 96 meticais a litre.
Maleiane said the government is well aware that any increase in the fuel price has an impact on productive sectors. He stressed that the government is now allocating fuel subsidies for passenger and freight transport, to alleviate the operational costs.
But in the long run, the only way to fight against inflation is by increasing production. “That’s the only way we have to bring prices down”, he claimed.
Maleiane said the government has been taking measures in the industry and trade sectors to hold back inflation, by increasing production and productivity. As a result, production had increased by 4.15 per cent in the first quarter of the year.
(AIM)
