Africa-Press – Angola. The governor of the National Bank of Angola (BNA) Manuel Tiago Dias on Wednesday highlighted the banking sector reforms underway in the country, such as the emergence of new legislation and financial institutions.
Speaking to the press at the end of a meeting with the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) mission, conducted in partnership with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the central bank manager stressed that the exercise supported by the two international financial institutions will give visibility to the transformation process.
He noted that since 2011, the Angolan Financial System Supervisory Council (CSSF) has been created with the aim of ensuring the stability and soundness of the system, protecting the interests of customers, and ensuring transparency in the capital market.
The CSSF coordinates the activities of supervisory bodies, which include the BNA, the Angolan Insurance Regulation and Supervision Agency (ARSEG), and the Capital Market Commission (CMC).
Finance Minister Vera Daves assured that the country is aligned with the relevance of assessing and strengthening the resilience and stability of the financial system.
She stressed that the FSAP is an opportunity to strengthen the foundations of the financial system, aligning practices, supervisory mechanisms, and resilience standards with the best international benchmarks.
“At a time when Angola continues its macroeconomic consolidation process, productive diversification, and modernization of the state, a stable, inclusive, and resilient financial system is a sine qua non condition for sustaining economic growth and promoting private investment,” the minister said.
Daves added that this exercise increases the confidence of economic agents and investors, both domestic and foreign, through greater predictability and security in the financial environment, in which macroeconomic stability is indispensable.
The minister reaffirmed the Ministry of Finance’s commitment to three fundamental axes, namely transparency and good governance in the financial sector, consumer protection and deepening financial inclusion, along with continuity of structural reforms with development partners.
The World Bank’s leading financial sector specialist, Carlos Leonardo Vicente, stressed that the mission should assess Angola’s financial sector in terms of stability and development, identify measures that the authorities have implemented in recent years, since 2011, to strengthen the financial system, and make recommendations.
“Make recommendations on what needs to be done, especially in the area of development. As you know, financial inclusion is a very important agenda for the government, as is access to financial services. So we will look at all these areas,” he stressed.
He emphasized that the recommendations should focus on how the government can accelerate reforms in these areas, with an emphasis on the financial sector in terms of risk management.
The FSAP mission began a working visit to the country on Wednesday that will last until June 24. This is a program of excellence from the World Bank and the IMF, which aims to assess and strengthen the resilience and stability of the financial system, as well as analyze the level of compliance with international best practices.
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