The governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Rogério Zandamela, said yesterday that his institution was trying to persuade commercial banks to lower interest rates, following reductions in key rates by the central bank.
The bank lowered interest rates yesterday for the second time in less than two months, on the grounds of the inflation rate having fallen to around 3 percent.
Speaking at a press conference, the governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Rogério Zandamela, said that the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (CPMO) had decided to lower the monetary policy interest rate by 150 basis points to 16.5 percent, and the permanent lending facility rate 100 basis points to 16.5 percent.
The committee maintained the permanent deposit facility rate at 12.5 percent and the reserve requirement ratio for liabilities in local currency at 14 percent and in foreign currency at 22 percent.
Asked why commercial bank interest rates remain high in the country, Zandamela said the regulator was also is keen to understand the reasons for the situation.
“We are working with banks to understand what is going on, because when the regulator lowers interest rates, it wants that to transmit a signal to commercial banks,” Zandamela told reporters.
As a regulator, the Bank of Mozambique could opt for administrative measures to impose interest rates on commercial banks, but has chosen to do this through dialogue.
“We do not want any confrontation, because we think that dialogue will be enough to get commercial banks to fall in with the tendency to reduce the main key rates,” he added.
- Lusa
