Investment accounts for less than 20% of Mozambique's 2025 budget expenditure
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]
Mozambican savings in term deposits reached a record 302,564 million meticais (around US$4.7 million at current exchange rates) in May, a 15% increase over the last year, according to official data compiled by Lusa.
According to a statistical report from the Bank of Mozambique, these term deposits in Mozambican banks reached 264,709 million meticais (US$41 million) in June 2024, growing progressively each month until the end of May of this year.
Demand deposits increased from 377,783 million meticais (US$5.9 million) in June 2024 to 440,409 million meticais (US$6.8 million) in May, a 16.5% increase.
Fifteen commercial banks and 12 micro-banks operate in Mozambique, in addition to credit unions and savings and loan organizations, among others.
The Monetary Policy Committee (CPMO) of the Bank of Mozambique cut the MIMO monetary policy interest rate for the ninth consecutive time at the end of July by 75 percentage points, bringing it to 10.25%, Governor Rogério Zandamela announced.
“This measure essentially stems from the continued consolidation of single-digit inflation prospects in the medium term, reflecting, in part, the favourable trend in international commodity prices, despite the continued domestic risks and uncertainties associated with projections,” the governor said at a press conference in Maputo at the end of the CPMO meeting, which takes place every two months.
The benchmark interest rate in Mozambique has been fixed at 17.25% since September 2022, following intervention by the central bank. The central bank then began consecutive cuts starting on January 31, 2024, when the MIMO fell to 16.5%.
Zandamela added that, for the medium term, “a gradual recovery of economic activity” is expected in Mozambique, excluding liquefied natural gas production, “partly favored by the reduction in interest rates and the prospects for implementing projects in strategic areas.”
According to Rogério Zandamela’s statement, “the risks and uncertainties associated with inflation projections remain high”, and the following stand out as “likely factors for rising inflation in the medium term: the impacts of the worsening situation on the State Budget, uncertainties regarding the speed of restoring productive capacity and the supply of goods and services, and the effects of climate shocks.”
“The CPMO will continue the process of normalizing the MIMO rate in the medium term. The pace and magnitude will continue to depend on the inflation outlook, as well as the assessment of the risks and uncertainties underlying the medium-term projections,” he added.
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