The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed last week satisfaction with Angola’s fight against inflation and the adjustments carried out on the foreign exchange market.
The stance was voiced by the executive director of the Board of Directors representing Angola at the IMF, Willy Nakuniada.
Nakuniada was speaking to the press after the meeting with Finance Minister, Vera Daves, as part of the monitoring activity of the Post-Financing Programme on Regular Surveillance, under Article IV of the Fund’s constitutive agreement.
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Nakuniada said that the actions carried out by Angola are having results, adding that the mission would request data from the Angolan authorities about the country’s economic situation, in order to assess the need for possible recommendations.
He also said that after the programme, the authorities were focusing on an agenda to diversify the economy.
“This is an event that the authorities discuss with the IMF, including the World Bank (WB), which are the alternatives to be explored for the economic diversification agenda,” he said.
In turn, the minister of Finance, Vera Daves de Sousa, highlighted the reforms conducted in Angola, aimed to diversify the economy and have a lower inflation rate.
According to her, the country will share the most recent developments and its prospects with the Joint Mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The official explained that it is a follow-up mission that takes place every six months, allowing to have advice, technical assistance in various aspects considered relevant.
“It is not a funded programme. It is simply a follow-up initiative that we are having, in order to defend what we have achieved in the programme that we had with the IMF, and in order to help us to think about how we can speed up some of the reforms,” he stressed.
Nkunianda also said that the IMF’s focus, “is to see how they can support us so that we can move a little bit outside the macro framework, but it is a greater sensitivity to see how efforts can be made for economic diversification to happen.
Questioned about possible future funding, the leader said that, from the outset, the need for funding had not been identified.
“We expect to work with other multilateral financial institutions, in financing projects and budget support logic, such as the World Bank and French Development Agency and the African Development Bank.”
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Removal of fuel subsidy
Another issue addressed by the Minister of Finance is related to the possibility of removing fuel subsidies.
The minister said that the technical discussions continue with the IMF and WB.
She stressed that concern remains about the potential social impact of that removal, “what we are doing with these two financial institutions is to analysing possible mitigation measures, which could be implemented, should we decide to move forward.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Joint Mission runs from 28 November to 15 December.
The Mission will also hold meetings with other ministerial departments, such the Public Works and Land Planning, Trade and Industry and Mineral Resources and Oil and Gas, the Economy and Planning, as well as meetings with the private sector, multilateral development partners and the National Bank of Angola.
