THE CONTESTED INFLUENCE OF IFI’S OVER LABOUR AND SOCIAL PROTECTION POLICY The cost of World Bank outsourcing experiments has been extremely high. According to the latest statistical bulletin, PASD-PE administrative costs, financed entirely by the World Bank, amounts to 51.16% of the total programme budget. This leaves only 49% of the budget for the actual cash transfers. Despite delays, an unprecedented number of households received the first PASD-PE payment. A recent study by the Mozambican Civil Society Platform for Social Protection found that the In contrast, the administrative costs of PASD-PE has in fact provided some the PSSB, which is financed mainly by the respite. Beneficiaries spent the funds national budget and paid manually by INAS on food, necessities and paying off staffers, is only 12% of the total budget debts. In addition, the PASD-PE provided allocated to the programme. In other an opportunity for the INSS and INAS words, manual payments by government to collaborate in identifying poor and officials have proven significantly more vulnerable households. cost-efficient and effective than attempted electronic payments by private providers, yet the World Bank continues to insist on the need to outsource the payment process. However, the study also pointed to a number of operational problems which have undermined the impact of the PASD-PE and possibilities for claim-making (PMSC-PS, 2020). The first challenge was the lack of In addition, because the rollout of the information about the program, the value PASD-PE hinged on outsourcing the of the transfer, the regularity of payments payment system, public resources were and the period of implementation. Only two diverted way from state infrastructure thirds of beneficiaries knew why they were and personnel and into the pockets registered in the PASD-PE, less than half of multinational private providers, knew how much they would receive, and a undermining state capacity as its quarter had no idea how many months the workload grew. Most worryingly, the program was supposed to last for (PMSC- huge costs of outsourcing have been PS, 2020). increasingly absorbed by public debt, which will ultimately have to be repaid by Mozambican taxpayers (INE, 2021; UNICEF & ILO, 2021). The next section explores the implications for the lives of working people. 19 The impact of the PASDPE on the lives of working people The Sindicato Nacional de Empregados Domésticos (SINED) – the National Union for Domestic Workers (SINED) – submitted union membership lists to INAS in April 2020, registrations took place in July 2020, Fast-tracking Financialization - International Financial Institutions’ Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic in Mozambique