The Mozambican foreign exchange market recorded significant growth of 17% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to the first quarter of the year. Foreign exchange sales between commercial banks and clients totaled 129.8 billion meticais, according to the monetary, interbank and foreign exchange market bulletin recently released by the Bank of Mozambique (BdM).
According to Diário Económico, the total volume of foreign exchange sales in April, May and June 2024 exceeded the 110.9 billion meticais recorded in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting continued growth in demand for foreign exchange. This increase was driven by various economic factors that increased the need for foreign exchange operations. Derivatives operations, such as forward exchange and currency swaps – temporary currency exchanges between two parties used to manage exchange rate risks, totaled 19.2 billion meticais in the second quarter.
However, despite this growth, the Mozambican business community has expressed concerns about the availability of foreign currency on the market. According to the president of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), “the worsening of access to foreign currency on the domestic market has been a negative factor influencing business transactions, particularly those that depend on international trade.”
CTA stresses that the lower availability of foreign currency, resulting from the new exchange restriction measures adopted by the Bank of Mozambique, has had a negative impact on exports, creating a challenging scenario for companies operating in foreign trade.
