The modern facade of the Bank of Mozambique in Maputo, a modern skyscraper in a city characterised by thriving economic activity. Mozambique is a country rich in oil, gas and welcoming of tourism.
Maputo, 26 Mar (AIM) – The Bank of Mozambique penalized, over the last year, five financial institutions, resulting in fines of over 46 million meticais (about 719,000 dollars, at the current exchange rate).
According to Bank of Mozambique Governor, Rogério Zandamela, who was speaking recently at the opening of the academic year at the UNIZAMBEZE university, in the central city of Beira, the penalization of the banks was a result of violation of their clients’ rights, including unanswered complaints, the provision of unreliable and untrustworthy financial information, and misleading advertising, among others.
However, the governor did not reveal the names of the financial institutions in question.
Zandamela said that the penalties took place in the field of consumer protection and financial education, a measure taken under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which is part of the Mozambican government’s strategy for the development of the financial sector.
“In addition to consumer protection with the introduction of severe penalties, as part of the Financial Inclusion Strategy, the basic bank account has been introduced into the national banking system. This is a special current account with simplified identification requirements for opening, which aims to allow needy families to have bank accounts under more flexible conditions”, he said.
As part of the strengthening of the financial infrastructure, Zandamela pointed to significant advances, such as the implementation of interoperability between electronic money institutions and banks, as well as the implementation of the Central Registry of Securities Guarantees by credit institutions.
“As a result of these reforms, the country is increasingly improving its levels of financial inclusion”, he claimed. “Today, every district in the country has at least one point of access to financial services; a third of the Mozambican population has access to banking services, and 93 per cent of the population has access to the services of electronic money institutions”.
(AIM)
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