Maputo, 1 Jul (AIM) – The Bank of Mozambique, in its role as regulator of the national financial system, has announced that the country’s domestic debt stock stood at 474 billion meticais (7.4 million US dollars at the current exchange rate), in 2025.
According to 2025 Financial Stability Report, recently released by the Bank of Mozambique, this situation was exacerbated by delays in government payments, undermined confidence in sovereign bonds and led to rigidity in interbank market interest rates, limiting financial market efficiency.
“Military instability in Cabo Delgado continues to affect certain districts, hindering the distribution of goods and investor confidence. High risks associated with the movement of goods are stalling the recovery of local economic activities, particularly in small-scale farming and small businesses. Consequently, costs related to security and support for displaced populations have risen significantly”, reads the report.
The Financial Stability and Inclusion Committee decided, in light of the assessment of systemic risk and the domestic and international macro-financial environment, to maintain the existing macroprudential policy measures aimed at preserving financial stability.
The Central Bank also points out that the country’s commercial banks recorded satisfactory profitability and adequate levels of capitalization and liquidity in 2025, which means they remained stable despites the trend of deterioration observed in 2024.
“In 2025, the commercial banks recorded a solvency ratio (an indicator measuring a bank’s ability to meet long-term obligations and absorb potential losses) of 28.14 percent, a figure above the regulatory minimum of 12.00 percent, representing a comfortable margin to withstand financial imbalances”, reads the report.
The Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE) ratios stood at 2.16 percent and 8.63 percent, respectively. However, the short-term liquidity coverage ratio was 60.46 percent, exceeding the regulatory minimum of 25 percent.
The non-performing loan ratio stood at 7.47 percent, an improvement over the 9.35 percent recorded in 2024, although risk exposure remains above international prudential benchmarks.
“In December 2025, the market shares for assets, deposits, and loans held by domestic systemically important banks (BCI, BIM, and Standard Bank) stood at 58.09 percent, 62.18 percent, and 54.04 percent, respectively, confirming a downward trend in the dominance of major players across all indicators”, reads the document.
According to the bank, the insurance sector recorded growth of 7.61 percent, driven by an increase in the life insurance segment. The sector also maintains a comfortable solvency margin, ensuring the capacity to absorb losses and meet obligations.
According to the Bank of Mozambique, the pension fund sector consolidated its position in 2025 as a crucial source of financing for the Securities Market (MVM), whereas its relevance to the banking sector is lower.
“Pension fund deposits accounted for only 0.18 percent of total banking sector deposits. The value of securities held by pension funds represented 36.88 percent of the total securities in the MVM sector. The MVM continued to be dominated by investments in government securities. In this context, government securities account for 85.71percent of total market capitalization”, reads the report.
Over the last year, the country’s payment infrastructure consolidated the transition to a digital economy, and “this was evidenced by strong growth in the volume and value of transactions via POS, mobile, ATMs, internet banking, and electronic money institutions integrated into the SIMO rede network.” This growth surpassed the performance of traditional payment methods such as checks and standard bank transfers.
“This dynamism was accompanied by technological and regulatory developments, as well as the approval of new Cybersecurity standards aimed at strengthening the financial system’s resilience”, adds the report.
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