Luanda – Angola’s Finance minister Vera Daves said on Tuesday that the Executive is discussing and evaluating the various possible options for a second financing programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as soon as the current USD4.5 billion package ends.
The minister spoke of the IMF’s plans to announce this Wednesday the results of its latest review of the financing programme for Angola.
Angolan government has been working hard on achievement of this goals and measures defined by the institution, added the minister.
The IMF has been very supportive of us technically and financially. We remain committed to the programme and we are very optimistic about the result of the next evaluation”, Vera Daves said during an interview with the US news agency Bloomberg, which is also a technology and data company for the financial market.
As for the possibility of a second IMF programme, as soon as the current one ends, the minister explained that, “at this moment, the various options that are available are being discussed and evaluated”.
The minister also spoke of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Angolan economy stating that it had strong effects, direct and indirect.
She highlighted, among others, the increase in health expenditure and the drop in oil prices and the decline in the country’s economic growth.
“And all these necessary reforms have shaken us a lot because we still care a lot about what we consume. And all of this had a big influence/impact on inflation”, she admitted.
The Central Bank, she added, is taking measures regarding Monetary Policy, but “the most important thing is to put in place the necessary measures to grow, generate revenue and make our currency stronger to improve our international reserves, our rate of exchange and inflation”.
As for the growth forecasts, the minister stressed that the country is still very dependent on the oil sector, but that there has been a lot of work with this industry, motivating its players to invest without fear and thus stabilise production, in order to stop falling and start growing up.
On the occasion, the official highlighted that, despite these situations, conditions are also being created to leverage other sectors, such as agriculture, small industries, fishing and financial services for the capital market.
“We are creating the infrastructure and an enabling environment to attract this type of investment,” she said.
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Source: Angola Press News Agency