Bank of Mozambique starts preparing economy for influx of natural gas foreign exchange

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Bank of Mozambique starts preparing economy for influx of natural gas foreign exchange

1:51 CAT | 04 Sep 2018

File photo: Macauhub

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee last Thursday (30/8), Rogério Zandamela revealed that the current account deficit deteriorated by US$414 million during the first half of the year, due to “payments for specialised services in large projects, in particular with regard to the construction of the Rovuma Basin natural gas platform”.

ApresentaÃ§Ã£o do Banco de MoÃ§ambique

“It’s good news – these services have to be paid for, they are necessary because they will generate more exports and more reserves in the future. At the moment it is a bill to pay,” the governor of the central bank added.

Still on the current account, Zandamela said there was a slight deterioration in the trade balance, due to the increase in imports of machinery and intermediate consumer goods.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee decided last week to “increase the reserve ratio for foreign currency liabilities by 500 basis points to 27% with effect from the start-up period starting on 7 September”.

The measure is aimed at reducing the impact of dollarisation on the economy, and also to start preparing the economy for the large foreign currency inflows expected to follow final investment decisions in natural gas megaprojects.

Source: A Verdade