Maputo, Oct. 2, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambican business leaders on Thursday called for a reduction in the tax burden as a way of encouraging private investment and an end to certain tax breaks, at a meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative in the country.
"The IMF believes that the level of revenue we are able to collect, in percentage terms, relative to other countries, is well positioned, however, our expenditure is also very high. So, their proposal is to seek solutions at the expenditure level, trying to identify those expenses that can be eliminated," said the deputy director of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), Eduardo Macuácua, after a meeting with the representative of the financial institution in Maputo, Olamide Harrison.
The CTA, in turn, argues that reducing the tax burden and creating facilities for investment recovery could allow for the broadening of the tax base and even the reduction of the shadow economy.
"What we are saying is that the government also has to make reforms that allow more companies to have facilities to start and launch their projects so that, consequently, these companies begin to contribute," said Eduardo Macuácua.
Mozambique currently has high levels of debt, at a time when the country's revenues amount to 27% of GDP, while expenditure is around 34%. For this reason, the IMF, which did not issue any statements at the end of the meeting, has advocated reducing current expenditure.
Last month, the Mozambican government made "control of the wage bill" and "stabilisation of the state's debt burden" its priorities, while estimating a fiscal deficit of over 6% of GDP for 2026.
In this context, business leaders are also advocating the end of certain tax benefits, including those granted to some foreign investments, as a way of broadening Mozambique's tax base.
"We also have to look at those benefits that were granted to some foreign investments and which had exemptions for some time, but now is the time to reassess and see if they can contribute to public revenue," said Macuácua.
In June, the Centre for Public Integrity, a Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO), indicated that the government could have financed 69.4% of expenditure between 2016 and 2022 with the amount of tax benefits granted to multinationals.
In an analysis of the executive's accounts, CIP noted that "the government waived approximately 150.6 billion meticais (about €2 billion) in revenue due to tax benefits it granted to megaprojects."
In the same period, the executive mobilised around 216.9 billion meticais ( €3.7 billion) in treasury bills and bonds to cover the fiscal deficit.
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