Covid-19: Metical may depreciate against the US dollar – govt

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Covid-19: Metical may depreciate against the US dollar – govt

1:33 CAT | 13 Mar 2020

File photo: Noticias

The Mozambican government said yesterday that the metical could depreciate against the US dollar as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, warning also of possible panic buying of basic products.

“The metical may possibly depreciate against the US dollar, with an impact on domestic prices,” Council of Ministers spokesperson Filimão Suaze said after an extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers in Maputo.

There might also be constraints in the supply of construction materials, goods and manufactured items, he added.

The Mozambican government also foresees “non-compliance” with the delivery deadlines of various products due to the interruption of production in China, from where Mozambique imports various products.

The executive also predicts possible shortages of logistics and transportation products, again affecting the supply of products, equipment, machinery, furniture and wheat.

“This is nothing exclusive to our country. These situations are taking place in other countries, too,” Suaze said, while admitting that there may also be a rush to the markets for basic products.

“These are analyses, studies, forecasts,” he explained, and all plans so far defined were of a generic nature.
There is still no recorded case of Covid-19 infection in Mozambique.

The new coronavirus was detected in December in China, and has already caused more than 4,600 deaths worldwide, leading the World Health Organisation to declare the disease a global pandemic.

The number of people infected exceeds 125,000, with cases registered in about 120 countries and territories, including Portugal, which yesterday had 78 confirmed cases.

China has registered 15 new cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest number since daily counts started in January.

As of midnight on Wednesday, the death toll in mainland China, excluding Macau and Hong Kong, rose by 11 to 3,169. In total, China has 80,793 people infected.

Several countries have adopted exceptional measures to try and stem the pandemic’s progress, including the quarantine regime initially enacted by China in the area of the original outbreak.

After China, Italy is the worst-affected country, with more than 12,000 confirmed cases and at least 827 dead, leading the Italian government to decree a country-wide quarantine lock-down.

Source: Lusa