Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Finance, Vera Daves, highlighted this Thursday, in Portugal, the challenges of the Angolan economy, highlighting its dependence on oil and the need for diversification.
Speaking at the second meetings of Public Finance – Building Strong and Inclusive Institutions, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, the official referred that economies that depend on a single raw material make external shocks even more challenging and, depending on the evolution of the price and production, there are consequences for those who have responsibility for managing public finances.
Referring to the recent past, Vera Daves said that Angola went from “heaven to hell”, when the price of oil fell from more than 100 dollars per barrel to less than 30 dollars, in 2014.
Vera Daves recalled that there was, in January 2016 and then in September 2018, a “slight recovery” in the price of crude, above 60 dollars per barrel, but then it fell again, staying above 40 and reaching 2020 with little investment in the sector, which was reflected in the reduction in production, associated with the arrival of the pandemic.
He considered this situation a “perfect storm”, which dropped the price of a barrel to less than 20 dollars and was correlated with production, which was 1.9 million barrels per day, rising to 1.1 million barrels per day – a value that remains more or less constant until today.
Still in his speech on “Public Finance Reform – the recent path and the great challenges in Angola”, he said that a public finance reform program had been carried out in the period 2017/2022 and had knocked on the doors of the International Monetary Fund ( IMF), “sadly”, if it agreed with Angola’s view.
At first, he stressed, it was thought that technical assistance was enough, but later it was shown that money was needed, this in a clear allusion to the Expanded Financing Program, which ended in December 2021, valued at US$4.5 billion, just over €4.1 billion.
In addition to Minister Vera Daves, the former Portuguese Minister of Finance João Leão also spoke about “The Role of Solid, Transparent and Responsible Portuguese Public Finances”.
This Friday, it will be the turn of the former finance minister of Cape Verde, Cristina Duarte, to address the theme “Which ways to align public policies with the transformation of the continent?”, the Cape Verdean finance minister, Olavo Correia, presents “Public Expenditure and Social and Financial Responsibility: the case of Cape Verde”.
In addition to the leaders, the president of the Portuguese Court of Auditors, José Tavares, several Portuguese-speaking deputies and the president of Orango Investment Corporation, Guinean Paulo Gomes, will participate in the forum, which ends this Friday.
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