Has Mozambique slain its inflation monster?

Plus: Russian fertiliser sets sail for Beira port

Good afternoon. The reading of the verdict in the ‘hidden debts’ trial is ongoing as we write, and can be watched streaming live on the homepage of O País. Highlights from Day 1 will be here tomorrow; the full reading is expected to take five working days.

There’s no shortage of other news in the meantime, however. The Bank of Mozambique confounded market expectations — or at least, those of Standard Bank — by holding interest rates today, rather than raising them in response to continuing inflationary pressures. The central bankers sound like they believe they’ve beaten double-digit inflation, at least for now; time will, in this case, tell.

Mozambique’s judges association has raised concern at a backlog of 100,000 cases which are yet to be heard in Mozambique; justice delayed is justice denied, to complainants and defendants alike. But some trials do get prioritised: and one of those is of the family of a boy who starred in a viral video mocking corrupt traffic police. The prosecutors have clarified today that the case has to do with the fact that a child appears to have been allowed to drive a car; most observers still believe, however, that this is yet another ham-fisted attempt by the authorities to clamp down on criticism of the state.

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From the Zitamar Live Blog:

The Bank of Mozambique decided to keep its policy interest rate at 17.25%
The decision confounded the expectations of Standard Bank which had forecast an increase of 1-2 percentage points. The two banks’ economists disagreed over the likely path of inflation in the coming months

Banco de Moçambique @bancomoc

Governador do Banco de Moçambique, Rogério Zandamela, comunica decisão do Comité de Política Monetária. Assista ao vídeo em youtu.be/M3jHq1DMDM4 Comunicado disponível em bit.ly/CPMO21722 #BancodeMoçambique #bancocentral #cpmo #taxamimo

bit.lyComunicado de Imprensa

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Also in the news:

• Viral kids’ comedy video leads to trial in Manica

• Council of Ministers approves sovereign wealth fund bill

• Defence and security forces to receive more funding in 2023

• Two former FADM soldiers detained for threatening to join the insurgency 

• The sea around Cabo Delgado must be secured, says Portuguese navy chief 

• Russian fertiliser donation sets sail for Beira

• Mozambique’s courts face backlog of 100,000 untried cases

• 'Vice taxes' expand to cover fruit juice and mobile phones