Hermeniglido Agio Pereira said after weeks of waiting for the 2018 budget to be promulgated by the President of the Republic the country would have faced a nation-wide electricity black-out if US$4 million in State reserve money had not been accessed to pay its outstanding fuel bill.

A September-December 2018 black hole in the government’s budget would put critical state services at risk unless the government stepped in with alternative state reserve funding, he said.

President Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres was given the US $1,277 million proposed budget on September 10 after it received majority approval from parliament.

As well as struggling to pay the fuel costs of State power stations in Betano and Hera, the government has warned civil servant salaries for September would not be paid if the 2018 budget was not promulgated.