Maputo - Mozambique's government held last-minute talks with trade unionists on Monday in an attempt to avoid a general strike this week by workers pressing for wage increases.
"We are doing everything to avoid the strike, which could bring more disgrace to the country," Labour Minister Mario Sevene told reporters at the start of the latest round of negotiations.
Union leader Amosse Matsinhe said: "We are open for dialogue even during the strike", which was set for Wednesday.
The country's trade union federation, OTM, is protesting against a refusal by government and employers to raise the minimum wage by 30 percent.
Sevene mentioned new unspecified proposals, but ruled out any review of the 16 percent wage increase the government decreed last week.
Matsinhe said only a 30 percent pay rise would avert the strike.
The current minimum wage in Mozambique stands at the equivalent of about R210 a month.
Meanwhile, OTM issued a statement calling on workers to remain calm and appealing to them to stay at home rather than staging protests.
Essential services such as health, water and electricity supplies, the media and telecommunications will not be affected, the statement said.
Mozambicans have been urged to tighten their belts since the late 1980s, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank began supervising a structural adjustment programme to address the southern African country's economic woes.
The cost of living has rocketed as a result of tight monetary restrictions.
The current annual growth rate of about 10 percent has yet to benefit the bulk of the population, 70 percent of whom live in absolute poverty.
From Mozambique's indepedence from Portugal in 1975 up until 10 years ago, the OTM was under tight government control with most of its leaders being members or sympathisers of the ruling Frelimo party.
If the threatened action goes ahead, it will be the first general strike ever called by the union in the country.
Mozambique is still struggling with the effects of last February's catastrophic floods and cyclones, which were described as the worst in living memory. - Sapa-AFP