The Mozambican metical
Currency · MZN · 1 country
Banco de Moçambique, set up by decree on 17 May 1975 under the Lusaka Accords, issues the metical. It replaced the Portuguese escudo at par on 16 June 1980, and on 1 July 2006 it was redenominated at 1,000 old meticais to one new metical, the change that brought the code MZN. Amounts are written MT.
No sign of its own
The metical has no sign of its own in Unicode. Amounts are written with MT, from metical, or with the ISO code MZN. During the switch to the new metical in 2006 the local abbreviation was MTn, for new metical, and it has since largely gone back to MT.
- ISO code
- MZN
- ISO number
- 943
- Subunit
- centavo, 1/100
An amount, written out
MZN 1,234.50
- MZN 1,234.50English
- 1234,50 MTnPortugueseMozambique
In English the code comes before the amount. Where the Mozambican metical is used, it comes after the amount in Mozambique.
Where the Mozambican metical is the official currency
Mozambique pays in meticais, with the note series of 2006, 2011, 2017 and 2024 all still circulating together.
About the Mozambican metical
Why the escudo outlasted independence
FRELIMO and Portugal signed the Lusaka Accords in 1974, and the accords laid down that Mozambique would have a central bank. Decree 2/75 of 17 May 1975 created it. Banco de Moçambique took over the assets of the Mozambique department of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino.
The escudo stayed in use for five more years. Samora Machel announced the metical at 8 in the evening on 15 June 1980, and it came in the next day, the twentieth anniversary of the Mueda massacre. Asked why a national currency had taken so long, he answered that the central bank first had to establish itself at the centre of the country's commerce.
Where the name metical comes from
The word comes from the Arabic mithqāl, a unit of weight and another name for the gold dinar, a coin that circulated through much of Africa until the 19th century. The plural is meticais. The metical is nominally divided into 100 centavos.
What the redenomination changed
The first metical went through severe inflation. Its notes began at 50 to 1,000 meticais in 1980, and by 16 June 2003 the bank was issuing notes of 200,000 and 500,000. On 1 July 2006 Mozambique cut three zeros, one new metical for 1,000 old, and the ISO code changed from MZM to MZN. Old and new circulated together until 31 December 2006, and the central bank went on exchanging old meticais until 31 December 2012. During the changeover the new money was written MTn. Usage has since gone back to MT.
A law of 1991 gave the governor of Banco de Moçambique the power to decide the design and face value of the notes and coins.
How the notes moved to polymer
A new family of notes in 2006 ran from 20 to 1,000 meticais. The version issued on 1 October 2011 moved the three lowest values onto polymer and kept the others on paper.
The central bank announced a further series on 17 May 2024 and put it into circulation on 16 June, working with Crane Currency. The 20, 50 and 100 metical notes are polymer, and the 200, 500 and 1,000 are cotton paper. The 100 carries a tonga straw basket on the back and, on the front, the tree whose straw is used to make such baskets. The older series of 2006, 2011 and 2017 stay in circulation beside it, and the new coins dropped the 5 and 20 centavos.
Social media produced readings of its own. The bank's director of currency recalled one widely liked comment on social media that read the lion on the new 200 metical note as a male leaving his pride.
Common questions
Questions about the Mozambican metical
What does MT mean on a price in Mozambique?
MT abbreviates metical, the currency of Mozambique. For a time after the redenomination of 1 July 2006 the new currency was written MTn, and it has largely gone back to MT since. The ISO code is MZN, which replaced the old MZM on that date.
Why did Mozambique remove three zeros from the metical?
By 2003 the central bank was issuing notes of 200,000 and 500,000 meticais, against 50 to 1,000 when the currency started in 1980. On 1 July 2006 Mozambique redenominated at 1,000 old meticais to one new metical and introduced new notes and coins. Both circulated until 31 December 2006, and the Bank of Mozambique redeemed the old money until 31 December 2012. The coins of the new metical went back to including centavos, from 1 to 50.
Where does the word metical come from?
From the Arabic mithqāl, a unit of weight that also served as a name for the gold dinar. That coin circulated across much of Africa until the 19th century. The plural is meticais, and the hundredth is the centavo, struck from 1 to 50 centavos since 2006.
Are Mozambican banknotes made of plastic?
The three lowest values are. Since the series of 1 October 2011 the 20, 50 and 100 metical notes have been printed on polymer, and the series put into circulation on 16 June 2024 keeps that split, with the 200, 500 and 1,000 metical notes on cotton paper. Earlier series still circulate alongside.