The government of Mozambique has for a third time extended an investigation required by the IMF, into state owned entities that entered into secret loans worth $2 billion, according to state media.

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Government had announced that the results of the investigation would be out by end of February, then announced once more that it would be the end of March.

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Government appointed multinational risk management company, Kroll is now expected to have that report out by April 28.

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According to government owned media, the Mozambican Attorney-General’s Office PGR said it proposed the latest extension to allow for collecting of data from banks and other institutions in Mozambique and abroad.

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The sudden discovery of the loans, negotiated and entered into behind the scenes led the IMF to stop a loan disbursement in April last year.

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Consequently, this development led to the collapse of the local currency, the metical, by 70% last year, coupled with diminished investor confidence.

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The IMF then gave a precondition for an investigation in the matter in order to resume aid talks with the country.

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“Yes, the audit will be published. I don’t have the modalities on the timing of the release, but that’s going to be determined by the public prosecutor. But, yes, it will be published. And you know that that audit is something that the IMF has been pushing strongly for,” said Rice.

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The IMF has demanded an audit of government guaranteed loans contracted by Mozambican companies namely, fishing concern EMATUM (Mozambique Tuna Company), MAM (Mozambique Asset Management) and Proindicus , specialising in maritime security services. All three companies are all linked to the security sector.

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GIPS, the investment arm of the State Security and Intelligence Service (SISE), owns 33% of EMATUM, 50% of Proindicus and 98% of MAM.

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Former president Armando Guebuza whose term of office ended in January 2015, former treasury minister Manuel Chang and António Carlos do Rosário, a senior SISE operative approved the deal.

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They all claimed that they did it for the protection of the country and benefit of the Mozambican people.

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“I really don’t have sequencing on that. The discussions are underway. I just mentioned the audit that has to take place. So I don’t have a sequencing on that,” he said.

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The loan was purportedly for a tuna fishing project but, it turned to be a loan for military equipment.

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Mozambique did not have the capacity to make the first interest payment of $60 million in January this year and defaulted on the loan. The IMF therefore suspended the next tranche of $283 million credit to the country.

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Mozambique is generally regarded as resource rich with recent natural gas discoveries estimated to be sufficient to supply demand in Germany, Italy, France and Britain for two decades according to Reuters reports.

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The IMF was reportedly not informed of this deal either at the time of the transaction or when an IMF mission visited in 2015.

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Critics argue that Guebuza and his intelligence coterie mortgaged the country’s future to economic hitmen.