In the first half of this year, the Mozambican state collected a total of 114 million dollars (7.2 billion meticais) in revenue from oil and natural gas exploration. This amount was allocated to the newly created Mozambique Sovereign Fund (FSM), as revealed in the economic and social balance of the implementation of the State Budget, published on Tuesday, August 20, by the Lusa news agency.
According to the data presented, 74.1 million dollars refers to revenue generated in the years 2022 and 2023, while the remaining 39.8 million dollars corresponds to the first half of 2024. The amounts were deposited in the Bank of Mozambique’s Transitional Account, in accordance with article 6 of Law No. 1/2024 of January 9, which establishes the Sovereign Fund.
Parliament approved the creation of the FSM on December 15, 2023, with the aim of managing revenues from natural gas exploration. According to projections, these revenues could reach up to 6 billion dollars a year by the 2040s.
“The scenario envisaged by the government indicates that annual exports of natural gas could reach around 91.7 billion dollars (5.8 billion meticais) over the life cycle of the approved projects,” said the Minister of Economy and Finance on the occasion.
The Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Amílcar Tivane, pointed out on March 12 that the FSM would be operational from April, once the regulations had been approved. He also explained that the procedures for the transfer of resources from the exploitation of liquefied natural gas have been defined, establishing that, for the first 15 years, 60% of revenues will go to the State Budget and 40% to the Sovereign Fund. From the 16th year onwards, this proportion will be adjusted to 50/50.
