Foreign exchange transactions between commercial banks and their clients reached approximately $3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, remaining in line with the average of the past five years, despite the current context of foreign currency shortages in the Mozambican economy.
According to Lusa, the information was presented this Tuesday (5) in Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Carla Loveira, in response to questions from lawmakers regarding measures adopted by the Government to mitigate the limited availability of foreign currency in the market.
According to the minister, the volume recorded during the period under review is consistent with the average of around $3.3 billion observed in the same period in recent years, reflecting the impact of monetary and fiscal policies implemented since 2025 to stabilize the foreign exchange market. Even so, Carla Loveira acknowledged that the country faces a challenging environment in terms of foreign currency availability, highlighting the need to strengthen the capacity to generate external revenues through increased exports of goods and services.
Among the factors putting pressure on foreign currency liquidity, the minister pointed to the effects of the 2024 post-election protests and the evolution of the international financial architecture, which is increasingly oriented toward instruments such as public-private partnerships, rather than direct support to the State Budget.
“These factors combined contribute to the challenging situation of foreign currency availability in Mozambique. Despite the challenges identified, the Government is implementing measures to reverse this situation and improve the flow of foreign currency into the market,” she said.
In terms of policy measures, the Executive has introduced adjustments to monetary policy, including a reduction in the foreign currency reserve requirement ratio by 10 percentage points, from 39.5% to 29.5%, with the aim of increasing liquidity in the financial system.
Additionally, the mandatory conversion of external revenues has been strengthened, with the minimum export conversion rate increased from 30% to 50%, as well as the requirement, in place since 2025, for the full repatriation and conversion of revenues from the re-export of petroleum products.
On the fiscal side, the Government has been coordinating with the national financial system to ensure the priority allocation of foreign currency for the payment of essential imports such as fuel, food products, and medicines, safeguarding the functioning of critical sectors of the economy. At the same time, efforts are underway to strengthen international cooperation in order to accelerate external financing disbursements to the State Budget, in an attempt to ease external liquidity constraints.
Source: Diário Económico
