As the government struggles with a mounting wage bill, the Mozambican cabinet has adopted a bill that will reduce the salaries of ministers, deputy ministers, state secretaries, and members of parliament.
Max Tonela, the minister of finance and economy in Mozambique, stated on Thursday that the proposal also aimed to solve issues with provincial assembly members’ salaries, which he claimed went against the ideals of fair pay.
Some of their pay, according to Tonela, were considerably higher than those given to other executives and specialized experts. He made no mention of the projected cuts’ size.
The public employees whose salaries were changed as a result of the Unified Pay Scale (TSU) approved this year would not be affected by the pay reductions.
The action was taken not long after the International Monetary Fund emphasised that the government needed to cut back on public salary expenditures.
Before becoming a law, the wage bill will be presented to parliament for discussion.
