Now Reading
Bank Loans Rise 8.4 Percent This Year in Mozambique

Bank Loans Rise 8.4 Percent This Year in Mozambique

The consultancy Fitch Solutions forecasts 8.4% growth in bank lending in Mozambique, accelerating from the 3.9% credit expansion recorded last year, and underpinned by falling interest rates.

“We see growth in bank loans in Mozambique accelerating from 3.9% in 2022 to 8.4% this year, and believe that the fall in interest rates will improve demand for bank credit this year,” write the analysts of this consultancy owned by the same owners of financial rating agency Fitch Ratings.

In its analysis of the banking sector, sent to clients and to which Lusa had access, Fitch Solutions wrote that the reduction of domestic debt by the government will give banks more room to grant more credit to individuals and private companies.

Mozambique’s central bank recently presented data on loans last year, recording a growth of 3.9 percent, down from 4.9 percent in 2021.

“We attribute this mainly to the increase in the central interest rate from 18.2% in 2021 to 20.1% in 2022, which put pressure on liquidity last year, resulting in higher borrowing costs and having an impact on credit demand,” the analysts write.

For Fitch Solutions, the financial regulator should keep the key interest rate at 17.25% this year, which will bring nominal rates down, and inflation should slow from an average of 9.9% in 2022 to 8.6% in 2023.

In the analysis note, Fitch Solutions also points out that the reduction in domestic public debt issuance will increase banks’ room to lend to individuals.

“Following the difficulties in accessing external financing between 2016 and 2022 due to the 2017 Financial Default, Mozambique has regained access to financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 2022, and the government will use a portion of the $456 million IMF loan and the $300 million World Bank grant to finance the deficit,” the note reads.

In addition, they add, “the increase in revenues from the gas sector will limit the need for the government to take on debt from Mozambican banks.

In December 2021, the percentage of domestic debt securities in the total portfolio of banks had grown 25.8 percent year-on-year, but in December 2022 that growth was just 0.4 percent, “a trend that will continue in 2023 and thus give banks room to direct their activities towards loans to customers as a source of income.”

For 2024, Fitch Solutions estimates 8.8% growth in lending to consumers and the private sector, underpinned by a reduction in interest rates to 16.25% and a decline in the average interest rate for loans from 19.6% this year to 16.3% in 2024.

O Económico

See Also

SUBSCRIBE TO GET OUR NEWSLETTERS:

SUBSCRIBE TO GET OUR NEWSLETTERS:

Scroll To Top

We have detected that you are using AdBlock Plus or other adblocking software which is causing you to not be able to view 360 Mozambique in its entirety.

Please add www.360mozambique.com to your adblocker’s whitelist or disable it by refreshing afterwards so you can view the site.