The government has recently announced Mozambique's aspiration to establish a price benchmark for essential goods. The purpose of the measure is to curb price speculation in the market.
The Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, at the presentation of the programme for the Africa Day celebrations, stressed that the government is preparing to launch a decree in the near future that will set the reference price for basic goods.
The announcement comes in the context of an ongoing review of commercial law and a study of maximum profit margins, particularly in relation to basic products. These actions aim to provide greater control over the prices charged in the market.
The Minister added that sellers will be able to set whatever price they see fit, provided it does not exceed the margins set by law.
The legal instrument to be introduced must also ensure constant monitoring of imported products until they are put on the market, and oversight of import and export prices.
The aim is also to regulate the value of imports and exports in the country, to prevent operators from inventing prices, thus ensuring better oversight.
Silvino Moreno emphasised that importers, when bringing goods such as onions and potatoes to market, must not invent a price. With the legal instrument to be launched shortly, the government will be able to reject artificially inflated prices, thus imposing a fair price.
Finally, recent data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) indicate that year-on-year inflation in Mozambique slowed in April, reaching its lowest figure in 12 months. Inflation fell to a single digit, standing at 9.61% in April, 1.22 percentage points lower than in March.
