The bill passed unanimously, after the opposition Renamo- Electoral Union coalition abandoned plans to introduce an amendment to politicise the office.
The bill states that GIFIM will be run by a Coordinating Council chaired by the Prime Minister. The Council's other members will be the Finance, Interior and Justice Ministers, the Attorney-General and the Governor of the Bank of Mozambique.
Renamo had demanded a seat on GIFIM for itself, which it hoped to achieve by adding to the Coordinating Council three figures to be elected by the Assembly, in proportion to the number of seats each party holds - which would mean two appointed by the ruling Frelimo Party and one by Renamo.
But wiser counsel must have prevailed within the coalition, since on Thursday this idea was abandoned.
The Assembly also passed unanimously the second reading of bills establishing new tax regimes for the oil and mining industries.
Under these bills, any company that strikes oil in Mozambique will pay a 10 per cent tax on the value of the oil produced, determined by average weighted international prices.
For natural gas, the tax rate will be six per cent.
As for mining, there will be two taxes - one on production, and one on the area covered by mining licences. The mining production tax rates will be 10 per cent on the value of diamonds, precious metals (gold, silver and platinum) and precious stones, six per cent for semi precious stones, five per cent for base metals, and three per cent for coal and other mineral products.
The tax on surface area ranges from ten to 5,000 meticais per square kilometre, depending on the type of licence or concessions (at current exchange rates there are about 26 meticais to the US dollar).
During the first reading, opposition deputies demanded to write into the bills a provision that "at least three per cent" of the revenue raised from these taxes will be used for the development of local communities, while the government, backed by the Frelimo parliamentary group, wanted the percentage to be fixed each year in the state budget.
SOURCE: AIM
