Nuvunguene, 4th April 2026
Dear Resident Representative,
The Government of Mozambique’s decision to repay $701 million to the IMF comes at a time of acute economic stress. The country is facing a severe shortage of foreign currency. Businesses cannot import essential goods. Supply chains are under strain. The economy is visibly weakening. At the same time, the State is struggling to provide basic services, and civil servants face delayed or uncertain salaries. In this context, depleting already scarce reserves is not a technical adjustment. It is a major policy decision with immediate consequences for both the economy and ordinary citizens.
This decision reflects a clear distortion of priorities. Mozambicans continue to bear the cost of the over $2 billion hidden debt scandal, driven by corrupt political elites. That burden has been transferred to the public through austerity, weakened services, and lost economic opportunities. Scarce public resources are now once again being used to service external debt, without clear justification. This reinforces a pattern in which accountability is absent and the population absorbs the consequences. It raises serious concerns about the integrity of economic decision-making.
The human rights implications are direct. Economic policy affects access to livelihoods, essential services, and minimum standards of dignity. Draining foreign reserves in the middle of a currency crisis reduces the State’s ability to sustain economic activity and meet basic needs. It deepens hardship and constrains recovery. This leads to a fundamental question: what was the role of the IMF in this decision? Mozambique remains under an IMF surveillance framework designed to ensure policy coherence and macroeconomic stability.
If the IMF supported this repayment, it must explain how such a decision aligns with current conditions. If it did not, then the credibility of IMF oversight is seriously in question.
Mozambicans are once again being asked to bear the cost of decisions they neither made nor benefited from. This situation demands transparency and accountability. The IMF must clarify its position and the advice it provided. But beyond that, a more uncomfortable reality remains: the IMF does not need this money, yet desperately needed resources in Mozambique are now sitting in a bank account in Washington. This is not discipline. It is economic injustice entrenched through policy.
Sincerely,
Prof. Adriano Nuvunga
Director, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD)
Pan-African Human Rights Activist
