Mozambique economy grows 3.4% in second quarter

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique economy grows 3.4% in second quarter

1:32 CAT | 31 Aug 2018

File photo

The Mozambican economy grew 3.4% in the second quarter of this year against 3.8% in the same period of last year, Bank of Mozambique governor Rogério Zandamela has said.

“Gross domestic product continues to grow in a moderate and diversified manner,” Zandamela told a press conference at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee session.

In the first quarter of this year, Mozambique’s economic grew by 3.2%.

Zandamela said that growth in the second quarter of 2018 was driven by agriculture, extractive industry, social services and public administration. “However, the fall in water and electricity, in construction, as well as hotels and restaurants has contributed to curbing growth,” he added.

Data released yesterday by the central bank governor reveals out a reduction of 500 million meticais (7.1 million Euros) in the balance of domestic debt, the first time this has happened in months.

“Domestic public debt [government domestic borrowing ] fell slightly, given the stagnation of credit to the private sector,” the governor of the Bank of Mozambique said.

With the fall registered in August, the balance of domestic public debt is now 105.2 billion meticais (149 million Euros).

The metical has shown volatility against the main currencies in the Mozambican exchange market, which has tended to weaken against the US dollar in recent weeks. After having registered an average price of 59.38 against the US dollar, the metical depreciated to 60.05 in August.

The governor of the Bank of Mozambique pointed out that the state had debt service payments of US$220 million, eroding net international reserves, now standing at just over US$3.1 billion.

“The balance of gross international reserves is at a comfortable level, since it allows for about seven months of imports of goods and services, excluding transactions on large projects,” Governor Zandamela reported.

Source: Lusa