The benchmark interest rate for November will remain at 18.6% for the second consecutive year, the Mozambican Association of Banks (AMB) said.

The AMB rate is calculated by Banco de Moçambique (BM) based on a single index of 13.3% that remains unchanged and a cost premium of 5.3%.

The prime rate of 18.6% was set on October 1, after a drop of 30 basis points compared to September.

The creation of the 'prime rate' was agreed between the WB and AMB in June 2017 to eliminate the proliferation of reference rates in the cost of money.

At the same time, it was launched at 27.75% and has dropped 915 basis points since then. The goal is for all credit operations to be based on a single rate, "plus a spread, which will be added to or subtracted from the prime rate depending on the risk analysis" of each contract, explain the promoters.