Market News

LUANDA, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Angola’s central bank cut its key lending rate by 100 basis points (bps) on Tuesday, its third reduction in a row after inflation fell to single digits for the first time in more than a decade.

• The Bank of Angola lowered its policy rate to 14.75% from 15.75%, following cuts of 125 bps in July and 50 bps in May.
• Inflation in the Southern African oil producer eased to 8.78% year-on-year in August from 9.33% in July. It was last in single digits in 2015.

• The central bank maintained its year-end inflation forecast at 8.6% but sharply raised this year’s economic growth forecast to 6.15% from a projection of 3.6% in July, citing a stronger performance in both oil and non-oil sectors.
• Angola’s economy has benefited from high global energy prices linked to the Iran war.
• The International Monetary Fund has urged policymakers to channel oil revenue windfalls into debt reduction and building fiscal buffers.
• Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa told Reuters last week the government was likely to raise its 2027 oil price assumption from the $61 per barrel in this year’s budget, though it would retain a conservative forecasting approach.
• Liandra da Silva, a Nedbank economist, said while Angola’s status as an oil exporter offered some protection from external shocks, persistent increases in shipping costs and imported input prices could still drive some imported inflationary pressures.