Mozambican Stock Exchange Chairman Salim Valá said on Wednesday he expects the exploitation of natural gas to drive economic growth in Mozambique in the next five years, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes Mr Valá as saying tapping and selling natural gas will strengthen the economy and make it more diverse, because the output of the gas industry can fuel other industries.

It is now possible for the government to create 3 million jobs in the next five years, twice the number it aimed to create before, Xinhua quotes Mr Valá as saying during the inauguration ceremony of Mozambican Presidente Filipe Nyusi.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the annual rate of growth in the Mozambican economy will accelerate to 5.5 percent this year from 2.1 percent last year.