The Mozam 2023 issuance, valued at $897.07 million (€786 million), representing 9.1% of the country’s external debt stock, is set to be repaid by Mozambique starting in 2028 through 2031, with current payments going towards interest only.
Throughout 2024, Mozambique paid $80.75 million (€70.7 million) in interest on these eurobonds, a significant increase from the previous year’s payments which totaled $44.87 million (€39.3 million), according to prior data from the Ministry of Finance.
The Mozambican government was compelled to restructure the previous eurobond issuance from 2019, which amounted to $726.5 million (€636.5 million) and was due in 2023, following the emergence of the hidden debts scandal estimated at $2.7 billion (€2.36 billion) according to figures presented by the Mozambican Public Prosecutor, a case that Mozambique won in the London court in July 2024.
The restructuring of that issuance, which allowed the country to avoid selective default on the international market, was completed on September 30, 2019, with the endorsement of over 75% of initial bondholders, increasing the value and delaying the start of amortization by five years.
The first amortization tranche of this issuance amounts to $250 million (€219 million) and is scheduled for 2028.
Mozambique’s public debt stock increased by 26.2% over five years, reaching a record $16.238 billion (€14.227 billion) by the end of 2024, according to earlier data from the Ministry of Finance.
“This increase was largely driven by the accelerated growth of internal debt, resulting from funding the Treasury deficit after international partners froze budget support. The Central Government’s debt remains predominantly external, representing 61% of the total, with the remaining 39% being internal debt,” the 2024 public debt report states.
The document highlights Mozambique’s fiscal adjustment trajectory and progress in debt management. However, it notes that growing reliance on internal financing and debt service pressures pose additional challenges to fiscal sustainability.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s report, the public debt stock was $12.935 billion (€11.500 billion) in 2020 and grew by 7.9% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
“This growth was spurred by internal debt through Treasury Bill issuances and financing via the Central Bank, with an increase of 29.7%, representing 39% of the total stock, indicating an increasing dependence on internal financing,” the document warns.
Conversely, the total external debt decreased by 2.6% in 2024, “influenced by debt relief to Iraq as well as data adjustments,” resulting from the migration from the old CS-DRMS debt management system to the new MERIDIAN system.
