Chairman of Mozambican Business Association criticises Cenbank over Nosso Banco liquidation

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Chairman of Mozambican Business Association criticises Cenbank over Nosso Banco liquidation

12:47 CAT | 22 Nov 2016

CTA Newsletter / Rogerio Manuel

The chairman of CTA (Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique) Rogério Manuel, criticised the decision of the Bank of Mozambique to liquidate O Nosso Banco yesterday in Maputo, while defending its intervention in Moza Banco.

“The Bank of Mozambique should have helped O Nosso Banco. I do not know why it did not intervene as it did in Moza Banco,” Manuel told reporters at the end of a meeting with representatives of the Mozambican Association of Banks, alluding to the different way the central bank had treated the two institutions, the one liquidated and the other prepared for sale.

The president of CTA criticised the performance of the central bank in the case of O Nosso Banco, pointing out that the central bank itself had licensed the institution.

“To say that there were only 900 companies and few clients [in O Nosso Banco] does not mean that it ceases to be a bank licensed by them,” added Manuel, referring to the central bank’s argument that the financial entity had few depositors and an almost irrelevant presence in the banking system overall.

The CTA chairman said he was not comfortable with the central bank’s statement last week that the country’s financial system was solid.

The Bank of Mozambique decided on November 11 to liquidate O Nosso Banco, launching a wave of uncertainty over the banking sector, after having ordered the suspension of Moza’s board of directors and executive committee at the end of September to “protect the interests of depositors”.

The Deposit Guarantee Fund provides for the reimbursement of only 20,000 meticais (EUR 240.00) for private depositors and nothing for companies.

On Friday, the central bank announced that Moza Banco was expected to hold a general meeting in early December to decide whether to recapitalise or sell, and added that there are already interested parties.

“There are already interested parties, some people have expressed interest, but at the moment what interests us is establishing the true situation of the bank,” said Joana Matsombe, the Bank of Mozambique administrator, at a press conference.

Still on Friday, the central bank said there was no reason to panic after the liquidation of O Nosso Banco and called on Mozambicans to have confidence in the banking system because it was solid.

“There is no reason to panic because the banking system is stable, solid and in good health,” said Matsombe at a press conference called to scotch rumours of further bankruptcies.

According to Joana Matsombe, the system “is well capitalised, has liquidity to meet the needs of the market”, and banks are well managed and maintain good credit portfolios.

The central bank administrator said that the solvency ratios of Mozambican banks circulating on social networks bore no relation with reality and that the banking system maintained an average solvency ratio of more than 14 percent, well above the required 8 percent.

“With all this upheaval, people taking their money out of the banks is not the right thing to do. Where are they going to put it? Under the mattresses?” the central bank administrator said, adding that the money would then be even less safe, being vulnerable to theft, as well as contributing to further bank insolvencies.

Source: Lusa / TVM