"Areas such as education, health, social security, social housing, fundamentally to combat unemployment, which is a great evil that affects our youth above all", said Manuel Nunes Júnior, who justified, in a press conference, the reasons for the increase in the price of gasoline, which will rise from this Friday from 160 to 300 kwanzas.
According to the minister, the objective is, "in an efficient and effective way" to use the resources that the State will save with the reduction of the gasoline subsidy in the improvement of the citizens' income and resolution of the "many problems" existing in the country.
"This measure will have other gains, for example, [avoiding] the smuggling of fuel, which today is a practice that we see at our borders, precisely because ours is one of the cheapest among neighboring countries", he stressed.
"Gasoline is currently priced at 160 kwanzas per litre, but its market price in 2022 was 533.27 kwanzas per litre, which means that the current price we have set for gasoline is far below the market price ", he stressed.
The official noted that regarding cooking gas, lighting oil and diesel, no decisions had yet been taken.
The adjustment of these products, stressed the official, will not be done now and no decision was taken in relation to them in the Council of Ministers session, adding that a set of measures are foreseen to mitigate the effects of this adjustment either in relation to companies either in relation to families.
"The State will continue to subsidize the sale price of gasoline to the productive sector, namely agriculture and small-scale fishing", he said.
The exception of this withdrawal of gasoline subsidies also covers taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers.
"They will continue to pay 160 kwanzas per liter of gasoline, as it is today", he underlined.
Manuel Nunes Júnior said that to safeguard the situation of vulnerable families, the Government, through the "Kwenda" cash transfer programme, will increase the monthly amount allocated to them, from 8500 kwanzas to 11,000 kwanzas, also extending the period number of stays of families in this program, from one year to two years.
The number of families to benefit will also increase to cover at least another 241,477 households, according to the Minister of State for Economic Coordination.
Subsidies for regular road and urban passenger transport users will be maintained, namely buses.
