Mandatory reserves held by Mozambique’s commercial banks rose 30.6% in May to 308.8 billion meticais, following a decision by the Bank of Mozambique (BdM) to raise the reserve coefficient applied to local-currency liabilities.
According to the central bank’s latest statistical report, cited by Lusa, mandatory reserves stood at 308.8 billion meticais in May, representing an increase of approximately 72.3 billion meticais compared with the 236.5 billion meticais recorded in April.
The figure surpassed the previous record of 259.2 billion meticais set in December 2025. In January of this year, reserves had fallen back to 225.3 billion meticais before gradually recovering through March and then dipping again in April.
The May increase coincided with the entry into force of a higher reserve coefficient on local-currency liabilities, as determined by the Bank of Mozambique’s Monetary Policy Committee (CPMO).
At the start of January 2023, the reserve coefficients stood at 10.5% for local-currency liabilities and 11% for foreign-currency liabilities.
During the first six months of that year, the central bank raised the coefficients twice, citing the need to “absorb excess liquidity in the banking system, which has the potential to generate inflationary pressure.”
The last of those increases came in June 2023, when the coefficients reached historic highs of 39% for local-currency liabilities and 39.5% for foreign-currency liabilities.
Since the end of December 2022, when mandatory reserves totalled 62.1 billion meticais, the volume of funds immobilised by commercial banks at the central bank rose by nearly 400% through the end of 2024.
Against a backdrop of foreign exchange scarcity in the domestic market, Mozambican business leaders had been calling since 2024 for a reduction in reserve coefficients, particularly those applied to foreign-currency deposits.
On 27 January 2025, the CPMO decided to cut the coefficients to 29% for local-currency liabilities and 29.5% for foreign-currency liabilities.
However, at its meeting on 25 May, the committee decided to maintain the foreign-currency coefficient at 29.5% while raising the local-currency coefficient from 29% to 39%.
At the time, Bank of Mozambique Governor Rogério Zandamela explained that the measure was aimed at “absorbing surplus liquidity in the banking system, which could generate greater inflationary pressure,” in a context shaped by price risks linked to the fuel crisis and the conflict in the Middle East.
The next Monetary Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for 29 July.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/27/economia/banca/bdm-reservas-da-banca-subiram-31-em-maio/
