The Angolan Finance Ministry is authorised to start the process of revising the General State Budget (OGE) for 2020, according to a statement issued at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting held on Friday in Luanda.
Finance Minister Vera Daves said the process of revising the Budget was based on an estimate of the price of a barrel of oil of less than US$35, compared with US$55 on which the current budget was based.
Daves added that the decisions were being made in line with the situation the world is currently facing and at a time when Angola is being affected by a wave of “shocks” one of which is the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In terms of public health, the minister said, the country is affected by restrictions on movement, in international trade and the production of a number of goods that affect trade flows.
The 2020 OGE, which was approved by parliament in December of last year, includes an inflation rate of 24% and real GDP growth of 1.8%, includes spending of 15.875 trillion kwanzas, which is a rise of 4.5 trillion compared with 2019.
During the same Council of Ministers meeting a decision was made to reduce the number of ministries that make up the Angolan government from 28 to 21, by merging the Agriculture Ministry with the Fishing Ministry and the Public Works Ministry with the Land Planning Ministry, for example.
Source: Macauhub
