The minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano João, said in Doha, Qatar, that Angola is working with the United Nations for the process of graduation from Low Income Country, or Least Developed Country to Middle Income Country, a change scheduled for 2024.
For this change, which brings the most diverse challenges and opportunities, the minister said, the work with the United Nations aims to better assess the necessary requirements.
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The minister was speaking on the sidelines of his participation in the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries taking place on March 5 to 9.
The minister explained that in situations of non-compliance with the minimum requirement in two of the three indicators, as long as the Average Per Capita Income is double the necessary, or instead of USD 1,200 it is USD2,400, the other two indicators can be balanced and the country has this condition.
Another indicator, according to the minister, is the Human Capital Index, or multiple, for which requirements similar to the Economic Vulnerability Index, still require some challenges, whose obligations the country has not been able to meet.
However, the minister said that work is underway to ensure that these indicators help in Angola’s graduation.
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On advantages and disadvantages with the change, the minister clarified that the Middle Income Countries present some qualities, mainly in what concerns institutional capacity regarding the socio-economic Development Index.
“Therefore, these are the challenges, of us being up to the task of honouring the most diverse commitments, which obliges us to be prepared to no longer receive donations”, the minister said.
Mário Caetano noted that when the country decided to graduate in 2012, the Average Per Capita Income was over US$3,500, and Angola, along with other indicators, could graduate.
“Since 2012 we have gone through an economic and financial crisis, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic that eroded the gains we had,” Caetano said.
To the minister, these aspects have influenced the Consumer Price Index of products that are still imported, with some inflation also being imported, which makes it necessary to be as rational as possible to effectively understand Angola’s level of development.
The minister noted that in 2012 Gross Domestic Product was 120 billion US dollars, and that today it has returned to that level, after a crisis. Underlining that the population has grown to about 10 million more, which impacts the socio-economic indicators.
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“We should not be too focused on whether we will graduate or not. The most important thing is that we can reflect on our challenges in the National Development Plan, which will dictate whether we will graduate or not”, the minister explained.
To Mário Caetano, above all it is to the indicators of the last ten years that one should pay major attention.
