During the current first quarter of 2023, the national banking sector favoured households over companies when it came to lending money for consumption or investment. Credit to businesses fell by 0.3 per cent, while loans to households grew by 12.9 per cent.
Figures published a few days ago by the Bank of Mozambique, the regulator of the national financial system, indicate that from January to March of this year the banks provided, overall, 289.40 billion Meticais in loans to the economy. This figure represents growth of 7.6 percent compared with the same period of 2022, when the Central Bank recorded total credit to the economy of 268.92 billion Meticais.
Of the total amount of credit granted to the economy in the first quarter of this year, 163.06 billion Meticais were allocated to the productive sector (companies). This amount represents a reduction of 0.3 percent compared with the same period when the banks granted 163.60 billion Meticais.
Meanwhile, of total loans (289.40 billion Meticais), credit to households in the first quarter of 2023 stood at 83.32 billion Meticais. If compared with the same period of 2022, there was a 12.9 percent increase, equivalent to 72.77 billion Meticais. In this sub-sector, housing loans grew even more, in the order of 34.3 percent. Specifically, in the first quarter, loans for house purchase totalled 8.15 billion Meticais, as compared to 6.07 billion Meticais in the first quarter of 2022.
In a statement, the central bank did not explain the reasons for the growth of loans to households, to the detriment of companies. Meanwhile, the document said that retail interest rates, charged by banks, averaged 24.4 percent in March for loans with a maturity of one year and an average of 10.4 percent for bank deposits with a maturity of one year.
Carta de Moçambique
