The Mozambican central bank confirmed on Wednesday in Maputo that the commercial banks operating in the country are charging high interest rates than recommended.

This was said by the deputy governor of the central bank, Pinto Abreu, who said that though the central bank has been reducing the policy rates, there were no satisfactory changes in interest rates charged in commercial banks.

Abreu said the year 2012 was the highest in terms of no reduction of interest rates by the banks despite the regular reductions of the central bank to encourage the commercial banks to reduce theirs.

The policy rates applied by the central bank are currently at 10 percent while the interest rates applied by the commercial banks are above 20 percent.

Abreu said that in addition to reduction of policy rates the central bank as a moral strategy in order to encourage the banks to reduce their rates by establishing the standards under which the banks have to compete.

On the other hand, the chairperson of the Mozambican Economists Association, Joaquim Dai, is quoted by the Independent daily O pais as saying that the central bank should have a strategy to make the reduction of interest rates obligatory because only that way it can minimize the impact of bank loans among singular people and companies.

"The central bank should create an obligatory policy to force the commercial banks to reduce their interests rates, otherwise it wont achieve the desired objective to encourage the commercial banks through reduction of policy rates," Dai said.

Dai explains that the reduction of policy rates by the central bank is only a signal that the commercial banks can reduce their rates but there is no legal vehicle to force them to do it. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)