Luanda – The Angolan government paid in 2022 overdue debts worth 362.86 billion kwanzas to suppliers of goods and services, according to signed agreements.
The mentioned amount was paid with the draw of 370 regularisation agreements signed between the Ministry of Finance (MINFIN) and creditor companies, of which 282 were approved in 2021, worth Kz 330.21 billion.
Atleast 88 agreements were approved in 2021 and partially paid in the respective year, but with the remainder settled in 2022, in an amount of 31.65 billion kwanzas.
According to the arrears report of 2022 that ANGOP had access to, the debts were mostly in cash corresponding to 60.45%) and in securities (36,91%), prevailing the non-adjustable Treasury bonds (OT-NRs) with a maturity of 6 years, accounting for 38% of total issues.
Among the budget units (BUs) with the largest volume of regularised debt, MINFIN with 22.55% and the Provincial Government of Luanda with 18.38 stand out.
The Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA) is part of the list with 10,41%, but the most part of the debt from MINFIN was paid to the electricity company ENDE-EP that leads the list of paid creditors, within the scope of subsidy to the price of energy.
The regularisation of debt is framed in the Presidential Decree 235/21 of 22 September which determines that the budget units should register the debts of the State Integrated Financial Management System (SIGFE) and it should be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for analysis and then forward the subsequent referral to the General Inspection of State Administration (IGAE) for certification.
Certified cases
The settlement of debts was carried out after due certification and in accordance with the criteria laid down in the document.
In the current year, the regularisation followed four payment methods, namely Cash (Drawing Orders and Payment Offices), Treasury Bonds, Clearing (Tax, Recredit and others) and Tax Credit.
Also according to the document, with regard to the category of expenditure, it was found that most of the regularised debt concerns the supply of goods and services, usually regarding cleaning, security, consulting, study and inspection services, transport, supply of medicines, among others, representing 60% of payments.
The document also states that capital expenditure is mainly associated with the construction of infrastructure such as roads, buildings, power plants, water distribution systems and others, representing 27% of total payments.
On the other hand, the regularised debts associated with the Ministry of Finance represent payments of arrears related to the construction of centralities, under the control of the Housing Development Fund (FFH), and with ENDE-EP, within the scope of energy price subsidies, through the Institute for the Management of State Assets and Holdings (IGAPE).
The Ministry of Finance has developed a number of functionalities in SIGFE for the treatment of overdue domestic debt, thus ensuring that it can be used to manage the debt.
NE/MRA/jmc
