Maputo — The Mozambican government intends to hire an independent entity to inspect the quantities of minerals exported overseas, in order to stop under-invoicing and tax evasion in the mineral sector, according to the director general of the National Mining Institute (INAMI), Elias Daúde.

The entity, according to Daúde, cited in Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Notícias', may start working within the current year.

The director general said that the entity, identified in the first public tender, should have started working but it was noted that there were conflicts of interest, since it used to advise companies that are possibly involved in tax evasion.

At the moment, he said, the state has been inspecting the quantities of minerals through a multi-sector team that involves staff from the Ministries of Mineral Resources and Energy, and of Economy and Finance, as well as from the Mozambican Tax Authority.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the under-invoicing of mineral goods obtained in Mozambique, without the proper assessment, has been causing losses of many millions of dollars every year.

The government's Economic Acceleration Package, under implementation over the past year, points out that the country has suffered an average annual loss over the past 10 years, of about 1.6 billion dollars due to under-invoicing and other mechanisms of tax evasion.