Fuel Pumps Run Dry in Mozambique Capital as Dollar Deficit Bites

From empty fuel pumps to dollars selling for a steep premium on the street, Mozambique’s foreign-currency crunch is becoming increasingly obvious in the natural gas-rich southeast African nation.

Motorists in Maputo, the capital, hunt for filling stations that have stock and join increasingly long queues when they find them. Red and white tape cordoning off pumps that have run dry has become a common sight. Informal currency traders are seeing rising demand for dollars, and expect the gap between the official and parallel-market rates to continue widening.