The Mozambican government has failed to pay another coupon for loans contracted by three state-owned companies, this one related to Mozambique Asset Management (MAM) in the amount of US$133 million, the Mozambican press reported.

Online newspaper Mediafax reported in its Tuesday edition, when the payment deadline to pay the installment ended, that the spokesman for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Rogério Nkomo insisted that it was MAM that must pay the US$133 million.

Nkomo told the newspaper that it is the companies that contracted the loans that must service the debts and added that if they do not pay the guarantor will be responsible for payment, in this case the Mozambican State.

“The state guarantee was not triggered because negotiations to establish a new payment plan are still under way,” added the spokesman.

Mediafax also reported that it had tried to contact the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MAM, António Carlos do Rosário, as well as Proindicus and the tuna company Ematum, without success.

The main shareholder of the three companies, whose loans motivated an international and independent audit and the suspension of State Budget support by members of the so-called Group of 14, which includes multilateral organisations and Western countries, is GIPS (Gestão de Investimentos, Participações e Serviços), a company owned by the social services of the State Information and Security Service (SISE).

The three-company audit report, carried out by Kroll Associates UK, was recently handed over to the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Mozambique, which announced it would publish a summary soon and the full document at a later date. (macauhub)