Maputo, Sept. 2, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique's president, Daniel Chapo, said on Wednesday that domestic public debt, which continues to rise, should be kept at an adequate level to preserve adequate financing for businesses, whilst also acknowledging that more needs to be produced to address the foreign currency shortage.
«Before we discuss how much the state needs to borrow, we need to know how much public money we have, where it is, when it will be needed and how it can be used more efficiently and responsibly. We must therefore continue to strengthen coordination between fiscal, monetary and financial policy,» said Chapo, whilst swearing in the new governor of the central bank, Felisberto Dinis Navalha.
This was one of the challenges he set for the new governor of the Bank of Mozambique, in light of the «growth in domestic public debt».
«The state must finance its needs, but businesses must also have access to finance. Agriculture, industry, tourism, transport and logistics, small and medium-sized enterprises, young people, entrepreneurs, and others all need finance for the growth of the Mozambican economy and the development of our country,» he stated.
The stock of public debt rose by 2% during the first half of 2026 to 1.12 trillion meticais (€15 billion), mainly due to a 16% increase in domestic debt to 551,795.4 million meticais (€7.5 billion), according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
In his speech, Chapo pointed out that financing the state's needs through the domestic market «is a legitimate instrument, but its growing and persistent use must be monitored with caution», not least «because it can put pressure on interest rates, liquidity and the resources available to finance the productive sector».
«Fiscal discipline begins not only with the decision to spend or to take on debt. It also begins with how we manage the public resources we already possess. We should resort to borrowing only after ensuring that the liquidity available across the State as a whole is being managed in an integrated, efficient and rational manner,» he emphasised.
He therefore called on the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with the central bank and the financial system, «to improve public liquidity management mechanisms, reducing avoidable financing needs and, consequently, the cost of domestic borrowing».
«We need to ensure that the development of the public debt market allows adequate funding for the productive economy. This is a responsibility that requires fiscal discipline, monetary prudence, the development of financial markets and ongoing institutional dialogue», he argued.
On Tuesday, Chapo appointed the economist Felisberto Dinis Navalha, who has spent 28 years at the central bank, as governor, one day after having nominated Waldemar Fernando de Sousa for the post, citing «supervening issues». He succeeds Rogério Zandamela, who served for 10 years and two terms.
«We have been listening to the concerns of economic actors regarding access to the foreign exchange needed to finance raw materials, equipment and other operations essential to our economy. These concerns deserve your attention,» the president said.
«We must identify the constraints with rigour, responsibility and transparency, and seek sustainable solutions for our economy. The structural response to the foreign exchange issue also involves factors beyond exchange rate policy. In other words, the central bank shares responsibility with other institutions. The fundamental solution is to produce more and export more, to diversify our exports, to process our resources locally and to attract productive investment,» he added.
He therefore stated that «the structural transformation of the economy is also a structural response» to «exchange rate challenges», and that it is therefore «extremely important» that «those in charge of monetary policy, financial policy and fiscal policy engage in constant dialogue».
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