Mozambique’s Net International Reserves (NIR), which are essential for imports of goods and services, increased by 5% in January, reaching 3.5 billion dollars, boosted by supplies from banks.
According to a statistical report by the Bank of Mozambique (BdM), at the end of December, RILs stood at around 3.4 billion dollars. The growth recorded in the first month of 2024 was influenced by the 300 million dollars in supplies from banks, representing around 75% of all inflows.
Meanwhile, among the 283 million dollars of reserve outflows in January, 199.3 million dollars were transferred by the banks, while 22.8 million dollars were used to service Mozambican debt, the BdM points out.
The report also indicates that, at the end of January, Mozambique closed with enough reserves to cover 3.1 months of expected import needs for the whole year, a coverage that could increase to 4.9 months.
In July last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of a fall in Net International Reserves since 2021. The agency acknowledged the impact of the high costs of fuel imports on Mozambique’s reserves, considering the supply of foreign currency to the main fuel importers.
