Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

The public budget is the Government’s primary tool for allocating resources for
childhood poverty reduction. Within sectors, the equitable allocation of resources
across provinces and programmes is also fundamental for reducing prevailing
disparities. According to official figures contained in the Government accounts (CGE),
total expenditure averaged around 27 per cent of GDP over the period 2000 to 2005
and was financed by domestic revenues and aid inflows in approximately equal
proportions. The Government is thus heavily reliant on aid flows.
A key expenditure target established by the Government in its first Poverty Reduction
Strategy (PARPA I, 2001-2005) was that 65 per cent or more of total expenditure
(whether financed by own revenues or aid) should be spent on six “priority sectors”,
namely education, health, infrastructure (including water), agriculture and rural
development, governance and “other” key areas (social action, work and employment
and energy and mineral resources).
Figure 2.5: Expenditure in PARPA I priority areas (by Functional Classification)
80
% Total Government Expenditure
70
.
60
50
40
30
20
1.2
1.2
8.4
8.9
5.9
5.2
19.9 17.1
14.0 13.4
1.6
1.3 1.4
7.8
1.1
7.7 8.1
1.0
9.4
6.3 3.4
9.3
5.3
5.0
4.2
19.7 19.7
19.2 17.0
15.3
10.5
12.9
13.3 10.9 10.5
0.9
8.8
4.8
19.5
13.1
10
15.2 16.1
19.8
23.3
18.0
20.3 20.0 20.4
0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Education
Infrastructure
Governance, Security & Judicial System
Health (Health System & HIV/AIDS)
Agriculture & Rural Development
Other Priority Sectors (including
Social Action)
Note: Expenditures are grouped by their functional classification. Thus, these figures differ from the sectoral expenditures
presented in subsequent chapters (which follow the institutional classification).
Sources: Adapted from CGE by MPD/MF
Until 2004, budget execution in these priority sectors was typically a little below
PARPA I targets (see Figure 2.5). However, these figures should be regarded only as
broadly indicative of overall expenditures, as a large proportion of external funding
is “off-budget” and therefore not captured in the Government accounts. This is
particularly pronounced in the priority sectors of health and education, where donor
support has been concentrated. As Hodges and Tibana (2005, p. 31) concede in
a critical review of Government performance: “If the off-budget expenditure was
included in the data, it is likely that they would show the official PARPA targets being
met or exceeded”. The increased amount of aid on-budget in the year 2005 indeed
illustrated that the target was surpassed, with 67 per cent of Government expenditure
in 2005 made on priority sectors.
CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS
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