Angola's Economy is Likely to Expand by 2.5% This Year, IMF Forecasts
Angola’s economy will expand 2.5 percent this year, less than forecast by the government, as oil production slips and the government cuts back on spending, the International Monetary Fund said.
Growth in Africa’s second-biggest crude producer “has been adversely affected by temporary production problems in the oil sector and by fiscal retrenchment,” IMF said in a statement on its website dated yesterday. “A solid pick-up in the pace of growth is expected for 2011 as these temporary effects unwind.”
On Oct. 15, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos forecast economic growth at 4.5 percent this year and 8 percent in 2011. Two months earlier, the Finance Ministry cut its estimate to between 5 percent and 6 percent from 6.7 percent, and from the 9.7 percent forecast earlier in the year.
The IMF mission was in Angola’s capital, Luanda, from Nov. 1 to 11 to conduct the fourth review of its $1.4 billion loan program with the southern African nation.
“Implementation of the government’s stabilization and reform program has been broadly as envisaged,” mission chief Sean Nolan said. “Budgetary outlays have been tightly contained to date, making room for building foreign reserves and paying off outstanding liabilities.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Candido Mendes in Luanda, Angola at cmendes6@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.
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