The governor of the Bank of Mozambique (BoM) said this Wednesday, November 1, that the national banking sector is “solid and well capitalised”, but warned that non-performing loans remain at high levels.
Rogério Zandamela, who was speaking at the opening of the central bank’s 48th Consultative Council, in the city of Inhambane, in the south of the country, emphasised that “the ratio of non-performing loans remains at relatively high levels”, pointing out that last September it stood at 9.1% of the total, compared to 9.3% in the same period last year.
“The national banking sector remains solid and well capitalised, with the solvency ratio standing at 24% in September this year, 12 percentage points above the regulatory minimum,” Zandamela pointed out.
In the same speech, still on the subject of the banking sector, the BdM governor emphasised that “one of the important reforms for boosting economic transactions” is the ongoing process of transition from the Single National Electronic Payments Network to the new electronic payment processing platform, Euronet, “which is at a very advanced stage”.
“At the moment, the banks are fully integrated into the new platform, including the electronic money institutions, which are making a particular contribution to boosting economic transactions in the country’s remote areas, as well as levels of financial inclusion,” he recognised.
The source also added that SIMOrede’s new processing platform “has the advantage of offering a diversified range of new and old products and services, with the emphasis on interoperability between e-money institutions, banks and other financial service providers”.
“With the new platform we have managed to comply with the international mandates for payment systems, which impose ‘contactless’ technology for all bank cards and POS terminals, a technology that offers greater security and convenience for users,” he emphasised, recognising that “another reform that will contribute to improving the business environment is the ongoing process of regulating the Foreign Exchange Law”, which “will allow the principle of gradual liberalisation of the capital account, as provided for in the law approved last year, to become operational, thus facilitating the entry and exit of capital, with effects on increasing the volume of investments”.
In addition, Zandamela stressed that the institution he heads is engaged, along with other national institutions, in implementing the action plan to remove Mozambique from the Financial Action Task Force’s Grey List in the area of preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
“It is our conviction that the effective implementation of the action plan will contribute to strengthening a favourable environment for attracting more foreign direct investment,” he concluded.
