Ndalatando – Ndalatando - The Central Bank of Angola (BNA) made available, in October this year, 250 million US dollars to commercial banks with the aim of reinforcing them with the capacity to purchase basic food products for the festive season, the bank's governor, Manuel Tiago Dias, said Tuesday in Ndalatando, Cuanza Norte.
In addition to food imports, the funds are intended for the purchase of medicines to increase and stabilize the supply of medicines in the country as well as product prices.
Manuel Tiago Dias was speaking to the press after the meeting of the institution's Monetary, Financial and Exchange Police Committee, and explained that the class of unclassified food and beverages are those that put the most pressure on prices in the economy.
“The products in the basic food basket have a very relevant weight. It means that any change in their price is reflected in the consumer price index”, he explained.
Kwanza depreciates just nine percent
The official added that, unlike 2023, when the kwanza depreciated by around 40%, due to the scarcity of foreign exchange in the country, this year the national currency is only depreciated by around 9%.
“This fact will remain until the end of the year, judging by the relative stability of the exchange rate”, guaranteed the governor of the Central Bank.
He reported that the monthly inflation slowed down to around 1.55% in October, compared to 1.63% in September. The non-distributed food and beverage class contributed 1.01%, representing 64.8% of total inflation.
The official explained of the 732 products that make up the price index matrix of the national consumer, 24 were responsible for 57,86% of the inflation which was observed as equivalent at a contribution of 0.9 percentage with emphasis on wheat bread, medium grain rice and fresh and frozen horse mackerel.
Country will grow four percent
He added that depending on the performance of national economic activity, the BNA expects a growth rate of around four percent by the end of the year, adding that this factor, combined with the slowdown in product prices in the economy, contributes to preserving the value of the national currency.
Mentioning data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), Manuel Tiago Dias reported that the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 4.3% in the first half of 2024.
Growth is driven fundamentally by the positive performance of the oil sectors, with 4.6% growth, diamonds with 33.3%, transport and storage with 17.2%, as well as electricity and water with 8.7%.
Inflation maintains downward curve
Due to this reality, inflation continues its downward trend for the third consecutive month, standing at around 29.17% in October, compared to 29.93% in September, whose downward trend is expected to force in the coming months .
He pointed out the conditions prevailing in the national economy, marked by the availability of a greater supply of consumer products, associated with the specified monetary conditions and the relative stability of the exchange rate, have contributed to the slowdown in inflation.
The official added that monetary policy in the year 2024 has been taking place in a challenging macroeconomic context characterized by irregular supply of goods, gradual elimination of fuel subsidies, price adjustments for communications, transport, education and persistent increase in healthcare prices.
The Monetary, Financial and Exchange Policy Committee of the National Bank of Angola (BNA) decided to maintain the institution's interest rate at 19.5%, the interest rate for permanent liquidity provision liability at 20.5% and liquidity absorption at 18.5%.
The country's net international reserves stood at 14.75 billion US dollars, corresponding to a degree of import coverage of 7.84 months.
EFM/IMA/YD/MRA/jmc
