On Wednesday (7 October), the Governor of the Banco de Moçambique, Felisberto Navalha, met with private-sector representatives at the central bank’s headquarters as part of efforts to step up engagement with economic stakeholders. Governor Navalha noted that meetings of this nature enable economic policymakers to better understand how prevailing economic conditions affect businesses, identify the main bottlenecks to investment and the expansion of production, and explore opportunities that can be harnessed. “This dialogue therefore provides an opportunity to deepen that understanding and strengthen our shared commitment to macroeconomic stability and the country’s sustainable growth,” he said.

Felisberto Navalha explained that Mozambique’s exposure to successive domestic and external shocks has affected the functioning of the economy, heightened uncertainty for households and businesses, and constrained investment in productive sectors.

In this context, he referred to the temporary reserve requirement regime approved by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Banco de Moçambique on 30 September. Under the regime, credit institutions will be allowed to deduct from their local currency reserve requirements an amount equivalent to new lending to companies that support import substitution and export growth. The applicable interest rate will be the MIMO policy rate, with an additional margin of 150 basis points, depending on the purpose of the financing.

The Governor therefore encouraged the private sector to play an active role in increasing productivity and diversifying the country’s productive base. He also reiterated the importance of ensuring that economic agents are aware of and have access to the financing mechanism made available by the Bank, underscoring that its success will depend on effective take-up by businesses.

“For the Banco de Moçambique, maintaining price stability is a fundamental priority, as it provides greater predictability for pricing, investment planning and financing decisions,” he underlined.

The Governor also addressed information asymmetries and inconsistencies in the functioning of the foreign exchange market. He announced that the foreign exchange authority will shortly introduce a platform for real-time monitoring of market activity, aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency.

The meeting also covered the launch of a central monitoring system for bank card payments abroad, designed to promote greater discipline in their use. The system consolidates and disseminates information on card usage abroad by individual cardholders, regardless of the issuing credit institution.

Participating companies welcomed the openness demonstrated by the Banco de Moçambique and expressed their willingness to cooperate in implementing the ongoing reforms.