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<\/a><\/p>\n21 December 2011<\/p>\n
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Maputo \u2014 The governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Ernesto Gove, has recognised that, if the main Portuguese banks collapse, the effect would be disastrous for Mozambique.<\/p>\n
Interviewed in Wednesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, Gove said the integration of world markets made such a knock-on effect possible.<\/p>\n
“In the specific case of banking, we are not predicting any problems”, he said. “But if such problems do occur, it would be a disaster, not just for Mozambique and Angola, but for all countries where Portuguese banks are investing, either directly, or through clients who obtain loans from Portuguese banks to make investments in the euro zone.<\/p>\n
So it is not desirable that there should be a crisis leading to problems of bankruptcy or insolvency of Portuguese banks”.<\/p>\n
The fear that any crisis in Portuguese banks would have a serious impact on Mozambique arises from the fact that the major shareholders of the two largest Mozambican commercial banks are Portuguese banks.<\/p>\n
Thus the Portuguese Millennium-BCP holds two thirds of the shares in Mozambique’s largest bank, the Millennium-BIM (International Bank of Mozambique). The Portuguese state bank, the Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD), owns 51 per cent of Mozambique’s second largest bank, the BCI (Commercial and Investment Bank).<\/p>\n
The main Portuguese banks need capitalisation of 5.5 billion euros (7.2 billion US dollars) in order to reach a solvency ration of nine per cent by the end of June 2012, as demanded by the European Banking Authority for all banks in the euro zone.<\/p>\n
This might force Portuguese banks to sell their assets abroad – including in Mozambique.<\/p>\n
Gove said, that precautions have been taken to ensure that all Mozambican banks, even when the majority shareholders are foreign, “should be properly capitalized to meet the eventuality of any crisis, They are thus obliged to have every strong prudential ratios.<\/p>\n
We are pleased to note that the solvency ratios, which indicate the health of the banks, are comfortable”.<\/p>\n
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