Currency hits record low on default fears

17:08 - 31 May 2016

Mozambique's Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario addresses a media conference in the capital Maputo, April 28, 2016 REUTERS/Grant Lee Neuenburg

State firm Mozambique Asset Management (MAM) missed a May 23 deadline for a $178 million repayment on a $500 million loan organised by Russia's VTB Bank.

Mozambique's metical fell to a record low of 60 to the dollar on Tuesday, according to Thomson Reuters data, as fears of an imminent sovereign debt default weighed on the currency.

State firm Mozambique Asset Management (MAM) missed a May 23 deadline for a $178 million repayment on a $500 million loan organised by Russia's VTB Bank.

The government and the bank remain in talks.