Africa-Press – Angola. The stock of credit to the economy, in national currency, reached 6.24 billion kwanzas in February, an increase of 3.47% compared to January and a cumulative increase of 3.87% (232.77 billion kwanzas), according to the Central Bank of Angola (BNA).
The data are part of the final statement of the Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) of the BNA, which met on March 17 and 18 in Ondjiva, in the southern province of Cunene, to assess the performance of the main macroeconomic indicators in the country.
According to the Central Bank, international reserves stood at 15.34 billion US dollars during the period under review, which corresponds to a coverage level of 8.16 months of imports of goods and services. The decrease in these reserves was due to the financing granted to the National Treasury.
Regarding the evolution of the national economy, as announced by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.4% in 2024, as a result of the expansion of oil activity of 2.9% and non-oil activity of 4.9%.
The monthly inflation rate, in February 2025, slowed down to 1.59% compared to 1.67% observed in the previous month, with food, non-alcoholic beverages contributing 1.06 percentage points, representing 66.69% of the total inflation.
Year-on-year inflation continued its downward trend for the seventh consecutive month, reaching 25.26% compared to 26.48% in the previous month.
According to the BNA, this trend is expected to continue in the coming months, taking into account, on the one hand, the adequacy of monetary conditions to the level of growth of economic activity and also the greater availability of widely consumed products.
The Central Bank also highlights that 24 of the 732 products that make up the matrix of the National Consumer Price Index (IPCN) were responsible for 48.92% of the inflation last month of February, corresponding to a contribution of 0.78 percentage points.
The Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) meeting decided to reduce the interest rate on the Permanent Liquid Absorption Facility to 17.5%, with the aim of signaling the need for greater dynamism in the interbank foreign exchange market.
It maintained the BNA rate at 19.5% and the interest rate on the Permanent Liquidity Provision Facility at 20.5%.
International situation
The international situation is characterized by trade tensions between the world’s major economies, increasing uncertainty about global economic activity and unpredictability in the financial markets, with a negative impact on commodity prices, both energy and non-energy.
In the energy commodity market, the average price of Brent in February was USD 74.95 per barrel, a decrease of 4.45% compared to the previous month. This decline is the result of expectations of a global oversupply of this product.
The world’s leading agencies expect the downward trend to continue until the end of 2025, having revised their forecasts to values below 70 dollars per barrel.
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