Finance Minister Carla Loveira revealed that the government used its net international reserves to pay off its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), assuring that the decision does not jeopardize state institutions.
“We paid the debt service to the IMF by drawing on the country’s international liquid reserves. These are financial positions that Mozambique holds, so there was no need for a budget amendment for this purpose,” the minister said, as quoted by Lusa.
Speaking on the sidelines of Mozambican Women’s Day celebrations, the minister emphasized that the payment poses no risk of compromising the functioning of state institutions, “since it was not made using the state budget.”
In March, it was announced that Mozambique’s Net International Reserves (NIR) remained above $4.1 billion in January of this year, maintaining the record level already reached in December 2025, according to data from a statistical report by the Bank of Mozambique (BdM). The volume of reserves continues to guarantee more than three months of coverage for the country’s import needs for goods and services.
The Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) stated that the repayment of the country’s debt to the International Monetary Fund is a “significant sign” of macroeconomic responsibility and strengthened international credibility, while also calling for attention to be paid to “substantial domestic debts.”
“The private sector recognizes and values the fulfillment of financial obligations to the International Monetary Fund, as it constitutes a significant sign of macroeconomic responsibility and the strengthening of the country’s international credibility,” the organization stated in a press release.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed on Thursday, April 2, that it had made a “full and early repayment” of $701.4 million to the International Monetary Fund, settling loans contracted under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT).
In a statement, the government noted that the IMF’s PRGT is a window that provides concessional financing to countries like Mozambique, which face fiscal and balance-of-payments pressures.
Diário Económico clarified that recent IMF data indicate that the outstanding credit balance fell from 514.04 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) at the end of February to zero as of March 27, following repayments in the same amount and with no new disbursements during the period. In practical terms, the payment amounts to $701.4 million.
According to the government’s statement, the loans repaid by the state correspond to the funding disbursed by the IMF under the PRGT for the 2019 Rapid Credit Facility, for the 2020 Rapid Credit Facility, and for the 2022 Extended Credit Facility, noting that “these programs had all expired and no additional financing was expected.”
