Angola Is Accelerating Plans to Pay Down Its Debt
- Improvement in debt metrics is ‘miracle,’ finance chief says
- Government on drive to diversify oil-dependent economy
A worker counts Angolan Kwanza currency banknotes in Luanda, Angola.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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Angola is taking advantage of higher oil prices to accelerate its debt-reduction plans and smooth out repayments to China, its largest creditor.
Africa’s second-largest crude producer owes China $18 billion, or about 40% of its total external debt, after settling loans totaling $1.32 billion this year. Repayments will be stepped up next year, and the southern African nation’s debt as a proportion of gross domestic product is projected to fall to about 61% in 2023, down from 66% this year and more than 100% in 2020, Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa said.