Maputo, Mozambique, 26 Jan – The partnership between the government of Mozambique and the groups of 19 donor countries and institutions (G19) that directly fund the State Budget is satisfactory, the Finnish ambassador and president of the G19 said in Maputo Monday.

At the end of a meeting with Mozambique’s new prime minister, Aires Ali, Ambassador Kari Alanko said that the meeting had served for an in depth discussion of some issues related to partnerships that the G19 had with the government.

The G19 recently announced it planned to bring forward funding for the 2010 State Budget and by the end of last year the Mozambican government had received around US$470 million in pledges from the group.

The G19 provides over half of the Mozambican state budget and, recently, Alanko said in Maputo that the donor countries were experiencing an economic crisis, and thus called on the Mozambican government to “demonstrate a positive performance” in order to continue to receive aid.

The Mozambican government announced it planned this year to reduce the State Budget’s level of foreign dependence from 52 percent to 45 percent. (macauhub)