Thursday, August 4, 2011

PARLIAMENT ADOPTS NEW AUSTERITY MEASURES

The Standing Commission of the Assembly of the Republic, the governing body of Mozambique’s parliament, on Tuesday adopted a set of austerity measures to cut spending. These include cuts to a number of benefits granted to parliamentary deputies and their staff.Speaking to reporters, the Standing Commission spokesperson, Mateus Katupha, said that these measures include cuts to the fuel allowance given to the chairpersons and rapporteurs of select committees, which will drop from 60 litres to 45 litres per week.
The Assembly is being asked to reduce the level of its participation in international forums. Deputies will also be required to travel in economy class instead of business class on domestic flights.Katupha told reporters that “in the next session of the Standing Commission we will give a detailed analysis of the level of savings”. He added that the three parliamentary parties - Frelimo, Renamo and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) - agree that these measures should be supported by all deputies.This is not the first set of austerity measures adopted by the Assembly. In April, members of the Standing Committee turned down the offer of brand new Mercedes Benz cars.All 17 members of the Standing Commission were entitled to receive a new Mercedes to replace the current fleet made up of Peugeots. However, Standing Commission member Manuel Tome told reporters at the time that “we have decided to continue using our current cars, because we think it’s our duty to contribute to spending cuts”.In the last few months the Mozambican government has adopted a set of measures to cut spending and address the high cost of living in the country caused by rising prices in the international market.

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