The volume of mandatory reserves held by commercial banks in Mozambique fell 0.4% in July, to approximately 301.7 billion meticais (over €4 billion), extending a downward trend that began in June following a sharp increase recorded in May after the Bank of Mozambique (BdM) raised reserve ratio requirements.
Statistical data from the central bank, cited by Lusa, show that mandatory reserves deposited with the BdM declined from 308.9 billion meticais (€4.2 billion) in May to 302.9 billion meticais (€4.1 billion) in June, and further to 301.7 billion meticais in July. In May, the total had surged 30.6% from the 236.6 billion meticais (€3.2 billion) recorded in April.
Prior to that increase, reserves had reached 259.2 billion meticais (€3.5 billion) in December 2025, before retreating to 225.3 billion meticais (€3 billion) in January 2026. From that point, they recovered gradually through to March, before declining again in April.
The sharp May increase followed the BdM’s decision on 25 May to raise the mandatory reserve ratio on local-currency liabilities from 29% to 39%. In the two subsequent months — June and July — reserves fell, though they remained above the levels recorded in the first four months of the year.
At the start of January 2023, mandatory reserve ratios stood at 10.5% for local-currency liabilities and 11% for foreign-currency liabilities. During the first six months of that year, the BdM raised the ratios on two occasions with the stated objective of absorbing excess liquidity in the banking system that carried the potential to generate inflationary pressure.
The last increase in that cycle came in June 2023, lifting the ratios to historic highs of 39% for local-currency liabilities and 39.5% for foreign-currency liabilities. Since December 2022, when reserves stood at 62.1 billion meticais (€836 million), funds immobilised at the central bank rose by nearly 400% through to the end of 2024.
Faced with a shortage of foreign currency in the domestic market, Mozambican business leaders had been calling since 2024 for a reduction in reserve ratios, particularly those applied to foreign-currency deposits. In late January 2025, the Monetary Policy Committee (CPMO) decided to lower the ratios to 29% for local-currency liabilities and 29.5% for foreign-currency liabilities.
However, on 25 May 2026, the CPMO kept the ratio on foreign-currency liabilities unchanged at 29.5% while raising the ratio on local-currency liabilities back to 39% from 29%. Then-BdM Governor Rogério Zandamela explained that the measure was intended to absorb surplus liquidity in the banking system capable of generating greater inflationary pressure, in a context of price-rise risks linked to the fuel crisis and the conflict in the Middle East.
At its meeting on 29 July, the CPMO decided to hold both ratios unchanged, at 39% for local-currency liabilities and 29.5% for foreign-currency liabilities. The Committee’s next meeting is scheduled for 30 September.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/28/economia/banca/bdm-reservas-obrigatorias-recuaram-ligeiramente-em-julho/
