The sale on Thursday in Luanda of US$55 million to cover commercial and private operations led to further depreciation of the Angolan currency, with the dollar costing 289.511 kwanzas, the central bank said.
The benchmark exchange rate of 289.511 kwanzas for each dollar reported in the auction compares with that of 287.226 kwanzas recorded at Tuesday’s trading session, a real negative variation of 2.285 kwanzas or 0.78%.
With this new depreciation, the kwanza lost 42.68% of its value against the United States currency, given that the dollar was worth 165.92 kwanzas on 1 January, days before the National Bank of Angola adopted the free floating system on 9 January.
The amount made available on Thursday also served for commercial operations still in the bank’s possession for the 2015 to 2017 period (foreign exchange arrears) which are in line with the exchange regulations, but that for some reason have not yet been paid abroad.
The euro is being traded at 340.204 kwanzas, a depreciation of 45.49% compared to the beginning of January of 185.40 kwanzas per euro.
Only two auctions further are scheduled to be held on 24 and 26 September, Monday and Wednesday, from the currency sale schedule established by the National Bank of Angola for September.
The Angolan central bank will no longer proceed with the direct sale of foreign currency to commercial banks as of October 1, with requests for the purchase of foreign currencies to be submitted only to financial institutions authorised to trade in foreign exchange.
Source: Macauhub
