The Bank of Mozambique (BoM) announced that Net International Reserves (NIR) grew again in April, marking the second consecutive month of increase, surpassing $3.7 billion (233.8 billion meticais).
According to the central bank’s report, published by Lusa, reserves held in foreign currency had reached their lowest level in a year in February, falling to $3.5 billion. In March, they rose by 1% to $3.6 billion.
The financial institution stated that, as of April, the available reserves covered more than three months of imports of goods and services, excluding megaprojects. In July 2024, NIR had peaked at 239.8 billion meticais ($3.8 billion)—the highest value in the past three years.
In a public address, BoM Governor Rogério Zandamela affirmed that the country’s foreign exchange reserves remained at “comfortable” levels, ensuring the coverage of imports for the next five months. He emphasized that the reserves are not meant to be “burned” and that the central bank has maintained them “stable to ensure the regular functioning of the economy.”
“We are not going to burn reserves, and we are not burning reserves. They remain there to support the normal functioning of our country and institutions,” said the governor during the 49th Advisory Council of the Bank of Mozambique, held in Maputo.
However, Zandamela recently revealed that the country faced a process of “dollarization” of the economy at the end of 2024, driven by post-election instability, which put significant pressure on the foreign exchange market and led to attempts to withdraw foreign currency from the national banking system.
Regarding the assurances of foreign exchange liquidity provided in March—at a time when business owners were complaining of a shortage of foreign currency for imports—Zandamela explained that the position was based on the assessment made at that time. Later, a trend of “shielding through the dollarization of financial and non-financial assets” became evident.
Source: Diário Económico
