Debt Management Performance Assessment : Mozambique

The Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) is a methodology for assessing government debt management (DeM) performance through a comprehensive set of indicators spanning the full range of DeM functions. The assessment reveals that Mozambique has points of strength in most areas evaluated by the DeMPA, but that it meets the minimum requirements only in the fields of the legal framework and managerial structure. Mozambique does not meet the minimum requirements with respect to the other indicators, although in many cases work is underway that would lead to meeting the requirements (e.g., debt strategy, debt reporting) or only small improvements would be required in order to meet those requirements (e.g., the annual report, coordination with fiscal policy). The concluding section of this paper outlines areas in which the minimum requirement could be met over the short run with minimal adjustments, and areas where progress would require stronger efforts. Mozambique benefited from debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative in 2001 and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) in 2006. The government has remained committed to seeking new financing with at least 35 percent concessionality, which has been made possible by the strong involvement of the international donor community. Due in large part to Mozambique's success in implementing public financial management reforms, a substantial proportion of external assistance takes the form of direct budget support. The scope of the DeMPA includes central government debt management activities and closely related functions, such as the issuance of loan guarantees, on-lending, cash-flow forecasting, and cash balance management. Thus, the DeMPA does not assess the ability to manage the wider public debt, including implicit contingent liabilities, as well as the debt of state-owned enterprises if these are not guaranteed by the central government.