The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended the new
Angola administration for initiating reforms geared towards
macroeconomic stability and growth that benefits all its people.
In a statement titled; Angola: The Road to Economic Reform,
IMF said: “Since the election last year, the administration of
President João Lourenço has started to implement policies aimed at
restoring macroeconomic stability.”
The policies, the
IMF added, also aimed at improving governance, including dismissing
officials linked to the previous administration, launching
investigations into possible misappropriation of funds at several public
entities, and creating a specialised anti-corruption unit.
President
Lourenço took over from the long-serving Jose Eduardo dos Santos last
August, and has gradually taken a path different from the one
well-trodden by his predecessor for 38 years.
He has, among other measures, replaced Mr dos Santos close associates from critical positions.
New president
"The 2017 election of a new president has helped regain confidence in Angola's overall outlook," said the IMF statement.
“As
the sub-Saharan region’s second largest oil exporter, Angola was hard
hit by the decline in oil prices that started in mid-2014, the pain of
which was still being felt.
"With stringent attention to needed reforms, the economy could grow modestly in 2018,” it added.
Angola
is Africa's second leading oil exporter, but its nationals remain
impoverished, seeing little benefit from energy revenues.
According
to the United Nations, the oil sector represents 97 per cent of
Angola’s exportation and 80 per cent of public revenues, and employs one
per cent of the population.
Address vulnerabilities
Angola has a population of 26 million spread across 18 provinces and got independence from Portugal in 1975.
The
dramatic drop in oil prices, the international lender said,
substantially reduced Angola's tax revenues and exports, with growth
coming to a halt and inflation accelerating sharply.
The
scenario, IMF noted, brought to the fore the need to address
vulnerabilities more forcefully and diversify the economy away from oil.
According
to the IMF, Angola’s social gaps were large and widespread, including
higher poverty incidence than predicted by income levels, and higher
mortality rates than regional peers.
“Public spending
is insufficient in critical areas like education,” the IMF noted, adding
that a well-designed conditional cash transfer programme could help
alleviate poverty and other social problems.
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