Mozambique: Thousands of ‘O Nosso Banco’ clients lose savings

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Mozambique: Thousands of ‘O Nosso Banco’ clients lose savings

5:25 CAT | 16 Nov 2016

In Mozambique, thousands of O Nosso Banco customers will lose a portion of their savings because of the bank’s closure.

O Nosso Banco started operations in the country in 1999.

VOA in Maputo reported indignation reactions from clients and businesspeople to last Friday’s decision by the Bank of Mozambique alleging insufficient liquidity and O Nosso Banco’s unsustainability.

Natércia Samuel, a client who had 159,000 meticais on deposit (about US$2,000) said she had “a nervous breakdown” when she learned that the bank had been closed and that she would only receive 20,000 Meticais (US$270.00) from the Guarantee Fund.

“I recently deposited a 159,000 metical payment I received. Last week I went to withdraw a small part for some expenses, and I was planning to withdraw more. It’s money from a whole year’s work, but it’s gone and they say I’m only going to get 20,000 (meticais) back. This is shocking and I still don’t know what I’m going to do,” she complained.

There are thousands of clients like Natércia, private individuals and institutions too, who will literally lose their money with the closing of O Nosso Banco.

Furthermore, national businesspeople are alarmed at the risk of more banking institutions closing, and are already considering taking drastic measures, such as not using banks to hold their money.

“We at the CTA (Confederation of Economic Associations) are concerned. We will have a meeting with the governor of the Bank of Mozambique next week to get clarification on what is happening, but businesspeople are already analysing the situation and will make their own decisions. If it comes to discouraging deposits in national banks, we will be forced to do it, because nobody likes to deposit money in a bank and to wake up the next day finding there is nothing left,” CTA President Rogério Manuel said.

The Bank of Mozambique issued a communiqué yesterday stating that the Deposit Guarantee Fund would reimburse individual depositors to a maximum of 20,000 meticais. The document also states that only those deposits expressed in meticais and held by residents of the Republic of Mozambique would be covered.

All companies and institutions that had deposits in O Nosso Banco will lose their money.

Source: Voa Portugues