Angola is planning a financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fund its reform plans. This was revealed by Tao Zhang (photo), Deputy Managing Director at the IMF, in a statement published today August 22, 2018, by the institution.  

According to the director’s statements, the Angolan government sent a request which should allow it to benefit from the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

Let’s remind that since he became the Angolan president, Joao Lourenço, increased actions to fight corruption and improve the business environment so as to attract investors as well as diversify the country’s revenue sources. The broad reform plan is aimed at allowing Angola, whose economy largely relies on oil, to exit the economic stress it has been going through for years now due to the drop in oil prices.

Though the Bretton Woods institution has not revealed the amount requested by Angola, it has agreed to the request.

“The IMF stands ready to help the authorities address Angola’s economic challenges by supporting their economic policies and reforms based on the Government’s Macroeconomic Stabilization Program and in the National Development Plan for 2018–22”, M. Tao Zhang indicated in the statement.

Let’s note that Angola’s economic growth which is hardly rising should be 2.2% this year according to IMF, a forecast which is 4.9% less than that of the Angolan authorities.  

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou