As part of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, the Mozambican authorities have announced that they are going to step up inspections into the purchase of vehicles and real estate in cash.
Paulo Munguambe, director of Legal Services, Studies and Cooperation at Mozambique’s Financial Information Office (GIFiM), explained that they intend to prepare a revision to the law to include limits on cash payments, especially for movable and immovable property subject to registration, due to the amounts involved. The idea is to intensify the inspection process.
Currently, there is no specific legislation setting limits for these transactions, but there has been a rule in force since 2014, which was revised in 2023 and is already applied by financial institutions. Munguambe stressed the need to raise awareness in these non-financial sectors.
For cash payments, amounts equal to or greater than 250,000 meticais are authorized, while amounts equal to or greater than 750,000 meticais must be made via electronic transactions or checks, with the transactions reported to GIFiM.
GIFiM is inspecting 21 establishments selling new cars, 263 used cars and 606 in the real estate sector operating in the country, with around 20 inspections carried out since the end of February.
Mozambique has passed legislation and regulations in recent months to tighten controls on financial movements, as part of its strategy to get off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list. The country entered the grey list on October 22, 2022, for failing to eliminate deficiencies in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
