Mozambique: Foreign currency shortage – Sixty-three companies have overdue invoices

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Mozambique: Foreign currency shortage – Sixty-three companies have overdue invoices

5:05 CAT | 19 Feb 2025

File photo: Noticias

At least 63 companies are having difficulty paying bills to overseas suppliers due to a lack of foreign currency, generating a total debt of US$373 million (23,592 million meticais) in the last six months.

This group includes companies in the healthcare sector, which face difficulties in importing medicines and medical supplies.

This data was presented yesterday by the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), reacting to recent central bank pronouncements that there is no lack of foreign currency in the market.

After five days surveying companies that are suffering from the lack of foreign currency, the president of the Industry department at CTA revealed that 41% are in the industrial sector; 25% in aviation and 21% in general trade. However, 40% of the unpaid funds pertain to aviation. The president of the CTA Health department, Mariamo Hassana, lamented the difficulties in importing medicines. He explained that 80% of imports come from India, a country that is very strict in terms of trade and imposes a three-month limit on the payment of bills. “India cuts off suppliers who do not comply with the terms. They are prohibited from exporting before receiving the amount declared as exported, as a way of controlling money laundering,” he said.

To make matters worse, he explained, commercial banks provide foreign currency only for
smaller invoices, so when companies import goods worth more than R$100,000, the
recommendation is that the invoice be split.

To reduce the shortage of foreign currency for importing raw materials, the CTA proposes that the government urge the extractive industry, in particular, to repatriate export revenues from large projects.

It is understood that failure to resolve this problem in the short term could worsen the economic situation in which Mozambique finds itself and further deteriorate employment opportunities, leading to continued social upheaval.

Source: Noticias