The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the fourth review of Angola’s economic program supported by an extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The Board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of $487.5 million, bringing total disbursements to Angola under the arrangement to $3 billion.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic weighed heavily on and still continues to negatively impact Angola’s economy and population. Oil production and prices are still weak, and the social impacts of the crisis are layered.
The measures “will provide significant debt-service relief and help reduce risks related to debt sustainability,” said Antoinette Sayeh, one of the IMF’s deputy managing directors in a statement .“Given Angola’s sensitivity to oil-price shocks, it is important that the authorities remain vigilant in managing these risks.”
The IMF Executive Board also approved the Angolan authorities’ request for waivers of applicability, modification, and non-observance of some performance criteria, indicative targets, and structural benchmarks. As part of the IMF program, Angola has pledged to sell 195 businesses or stakes, including partial holdings in national oil company Sonangol and diamond firm Endiama, to boost its public finances and reduce the role of the state in the economy and also remove fuel subsidies and increase public transport tariffs “once the pandemic subsides,”
