The governor of the Bank of Mozambique said on Wednesday that the national banking sector is "solid and well capitalized", but warned that non-performing loans remain at high levels, pointing out that in September the ratio stood at 9.1% against 9.3 in the same month last year.

"The national banking sector remains solid and well capitalized, with the solvency ratio standing at 24.0% in September of this year, corresponding to 12.0 percentage points above the regulatory minimum," said Zandamela, at the opening of the central bank's 48th consultative council yesterday in the city of Inhambane.

In the same speech, still on the banking sector, the governor of the Bank of Mozambique, quoted by Lusa, stressed that "one of the important reforms for boosting economic transactions" is the ongoing process of transition from the Single National Electronic Payments Network to the new electronic payment processing platform, Euronet, "which is at a very advanced stage".

"At the moment, the banks have been fully integrated into the new platform, including the Electronic Money Institutions, which are making a particular contribution to boosting economic transactions in the country's remote areas, as well as levels of financial inclusion," acknowledged Zandamela.

He added that SIMOrede's new processing platform "has the advantage of offering a diverse range of new and old products and services, with an emphasis on interoperability between Electronic Money Institutions, banks and other financial service providers".

"With the new platform we have been able to comply with the international mandates for payment systems, which impose 'contactless' technology for all bank cards and POS terminals, a technology that offers greater security and convenience for users," he said.

He also acknowledged that "another reform that will contribute to improving the business environment is the ongoing process of regulating the Foreign Exchange Law", which "will allow the principle of gradual liberalization of the capital account, provided for in the Foreign Exchange Law, approved last year, to be put into practice".

"This will facilitate the inflow and outflow of capital, with effects on increasing the volume of investments. In addition, we are engaged, together with other national institutions, in the implementation of the action plan for the removal of Mozambique from the Financial Action Task Force's Grey List within the scope of preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing."

"We are convinced that the effective implementation of the action plan will contribute to strengthening an environment conducive to attracting more foreign direct investment," he concluded.