Maputo — Mozambique's Attorney-General, Beatriz Buchili, on Wednesday defended the decision of her office not to publish the full report of the audit of the three security-related companies, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company), Proindicus and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management), which obtained loans of over two billion US dollars from the banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia in 2013-2014, on the basis of illegal guarantees issued by the government of the time, headed by President Armando Guebuza.
The scandal of what became known as the “hidden debts” led the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in April 2016, to suspend its programme with Mozambique. Other western partners followed suit: in particular, the 14 donors who had provided direct support to the Mozambican state budget, halted all disbursements. Judging by the previous levels of direct budget support, this is costing Mozambique between 400 and 500 million dollars a year.
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