The Bank of Mozambique (BoM) warned that non-performing loans (NPLs) at national banking institutions remained above the recommended 5% in the last quarter of 2023.
In its report on Prudential, Economic and Financial Indicators, the central bank revealed that Banco Nacional de Investimentos (BNI) closed the last quarter of the year with an NPL ratio of 43.98 per cent of total loans and an NPL coverage ratio that fell to 70.26 per cent.
Among the 15 commercial banks listed in the document, Ecobank followed with an NPL ratio of 28.62 per cent and Moza Banco with 17.20 per cent.
According to the central bank, only United Bank for Africa (UBA), First National Bank (FNB), First Capital Bank (FCB) and Standard Bank have an NPL ratio below the recommended 5%, with 0.98%, 1.80%, 2.22% and 2.82%, respectively.
However, Millennium bim, one of the country’s largest and led by Portugal’s BCP, saw its non-performing loans ratio fall in the last quarter to 4.55 per cent.
Last year, the governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Rogério Lucas Zandamela, stated that the Mozambican banking sector is “solid and well capitalised”, but warned that non-performing loans remain at high levels.
“The ratio of non-performing loans remains at relatively high levels,” and in September it stood at 9.1 per cent of the total, compared to 9.3 per cent in the same period last year.
“The national banking sector continues to be solid and well capitalised, with the solvency ratio standing at 24% [in September 2023], 12 percentage points above the regulatory minimum,” said Zandamela.
Data from the central bank indicates that there are 15 commercial banks and 12 microbanks operating in Mozambique, as well as credit cooperatives, savings and credit organisations, among others.
