President of the Republic João Lourenço highlighted his governance policies and the new measures to re-launch the economy and fight poverty.
In his speech that marked the Opening Session of the New Parliamentary Year, the Angolan Head of State highlighted, among several issues, the commitment to issue of local elections.
Without referring to specific dates, João Lourenço stated that there can be no talk of postponing these elections, since they were never formally called.
Still in the political domain, he spoke about the fight against corruption and promised to continue to pay particular attention to the consolidation of the Democratic Rule of Law, being, therefore, fundamental the action of the governing body of justice and human rights.
In his speech, he assured that the Executive commitment to pay due attention to the fight against Covid-19, but will focus on the issue of diversifying the economy and increasing production.
In this area, he promised to continue working to increase the national production of basic goods and services, the range of exportable products and the supply of labour.
Also read: Angola working to become an agricultural powerhouse in Africa
Still in the economic field, the Head of State announced that Angola will register, this year, a fiscal deficit in the order of 4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He made it known that the country’s international reserves reached, in September, US$15B, corresponding to 11 months of imports, and the country spent, this year, US$900M on the import of food goods.
According to the President, the Government spent 300 million less on food imports compared to 2019, stressing that the country expects to double its wheat flour production capacity, from 600,000 to 1. 2 million tons, starting in 2021 .
He also pointed out that around 19,000 jobs were created in recent months by companies and job centers.
In his speech, João Lourenço stated that the demand for electricity in the country is currently 1,957 megawatts (MW), which represents an increase of 11 percent, compared to last year.
As for the housing sector, the Angolan President explained to the deputies that the Angolan State has 18,800 houses for sale in the 14 satellite existing in the country.
In the social domain, he said that 1,200 approved projects of the Integrated Program of Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM) are being executed, throughout the country.
He said that the Government will pay extra attention to the fight against Covid-19, as a way of controlling circulation of cases in communities.
The State of the Nation Message was the highlight of the opening session of the Parliamentary Year.
Source: Angop
