The director of the Bank of Mozambique (BoM), Jamal Luís Omar, said that the current state of the country’s foreign exchange market remains liquid and stable, taking into account the indicators of revenue from exports and other factors, the publication Agência de Informação de Moçambique reported on Tuesday, April 23.
The official was responding to concerns raised by the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) during the Business Environment Monitoring Council (CMAN), an event that took place last week in Maputo.
On the occasion, Nelson Mavimbe, chairman of the CTA’s Fuel Retailers Association, justified his concern by saying that there have been some difficulties in accessing foreign currency in commercial banking, and questioned the reasons for the central bank’s withdrawal from reimbursing fuel retailers.
Mavimbe also lamented the fact that the fuel margin – a value defined by law through Decree 89/2019, which serves to guarantee an adequate return on the capital invested in the business to cover interest rates and other costs – has not been reviewed for more than five years. “We have operating costs that are systematically worsening, reaching a situation of unsustainability.”
Regarding the lack of foreign currency in commercial banking and the withdrawal of the BdM’s contribution to the fuel tax, Jamal Omar explained that the Mozambican foreign exchange market is stable, exports remain normal, as do conversion levels. “There is a warning that up to 30% of export revenues must be converted at commercial banks. The aim of this measure is for financial institutions to have liquidity or foreign currency to support their clients in processing exports,” he explained, adding that the exchange rate statistics point to stable levels.
With regard to the co-payment of fuel bills, he said that the measure was introduced in 2005 as an alternative while the economy was gaining some maturity, as at that time the country was facing some problems in terms of exports.
“The removal of Banco de Moçambique from the fuel bill co-payment was a measure that was properly studied and well taken care of, at a time when our economy has gained maturity from the point of view of exports.
The banks were duly informed about BoM’s withdrawal from this process,” he said.
