According to the data, to which Lusa had access, only Portugal (590,735 euros), Cape Verde (41,808 euros), East Timor (202,543 euros) and Angola (589,291 euros) have so far paid the 2019 dues. first three paid in due year while Angola paid off its share in January this year.
Thus, the executive secretariat of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) had only 31 percent of the total budget approved for 2019, that is, about 835 thousand euros.
But even after Angola fulfills the payment of its contribution, the value of the outstanding dues, for the year 2019 alone, is still higher than the amount already paid, reaching 1.3 million euros, with Brazil's arrears (768,453 euros) , Guinea-Bissau (41,808), Equatorial Guinea (204,295), Mozambique (252,233) and São Tomé and Príncipe (41,808).
In relation to 2020, so far, only Portugal has paid the quota. The country's annual contribution, of 590,735 euros, was paid in advance, in December 2019, still according to the same data to which Lusa had access.
Delays in quotas have hampered the functioning of the CPLP executive secretariat and the implementation of the initiatives adopted by the organization's decision-making bodies, a CPLP source told Lusa.
In 2017, the organization's member states owed 1.7 million euros in arrears for several years, more than half of the CPLP's annual budget.
That amount already meant an increase compared to the total amount of arrears in 2016, which was 817,873 euros.
In 2017, according to the financial statements, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, besides Portugal, did not have any overdue payments to the CPLP that year and the Member States paid a total of 1.6 million euros in contributions.
Annually, CPLP should receive around 2.7 million euros in contributions from its Member States per year. Thus, only in 2017 did it have a negative balance in this item of 1.1 million euros.
Brazil is the country that has the largest share for the organization, with a value of 768,453 euros per year, followed by Portugal, with 590,735 euros, and Angola, with 589,291.
Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe have an identical share of 41,808 euros. Equatorial Guinea and Timor-Leste should each pay 204,295 euros in annual dues and Mozambique should pay a contribution of 252,233 euros.
In 2017, Angola was in arrears only the amount of an annual contribution, that is, 589,291 euros, while Mozambique owed 452,233 euros and Cape Verde of 62,710 euros.
São Tomé and Príncipe already had 16,801 euros to be paid and Equatorial Guinea had an overdue amount of 612,887 euros, that is, equivalent to three years. But according to an official source, this country, which joined the organization in 2014, had already settled everything and had no overdue quotas, at the date when the document approved by the Mindelo Council of Ministers was released in July 2019.
As for 2016, Angola and Brazil, as shown in table 17.1 of the 2017 financial statements, did not have arrears. Nor did Portugal owe contributions to the organization, according to documents from the accounts.
But all other Member States were overdue.
Timor-Leste and Guinea-Bissau will have corrected the situation in the meantime, while other States have been accumulating higher amounts in debt, with the exception of São Tomé and Príncipe, which has lowered its value in arrears of contributions from 41,808 euros to 16,801 euros .
CPLP is part of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.
