LUANDA, May 1 (Xinhua) — Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.9 percent in 2023 amid pressures of currency devaluation and inflation, a report by the National Bank of Angola (BNA) showed Tuesday.
The BNA’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2023, using data from Angola’s National Institute of Statistics, said the GDP changed mainly because the oil sector decreased by 2.4 percent year-on-year and the non-oil sector growth slowed down.
The oil extraction and refining industry contributes the most to Angola’s GDP, reaching 28.2 percent. Compared to a slight growth in 2022, the oil sector saw a decline in 2023 due to a decrease of 3.3 percent in oil production.
Meanwhile, the deceleration in the growth rate of the non-oil sector “associated with the depreciation of the national currency and the reduction in imports, particularly of food items, accentuated the imbalance between supply and demand for goods and services in the economy,” the report said.
The Kwanza, Angola’s currency, depreciated by 39.23 percent against the U.S. dollar as of December 2023, compared to the same period in 2022.
The report acknowledged that, following the currency devaluation in May and June 2023, the BNA “halted the easing of monetary policy, keeping rates unchanged until November” to prepare the markets for a shift in monetary policy direction due to inflationary pressures.
It said the BNA’s monetary policy was signaling a restrictive stance.Annual inflation rate was 20.01 percent in 2023, with food and non-alcoholic beverages being the main cause of price increases in the market, accounting for over half of the inflation, according to the report.
“It is of utmost importance to emphasize that inflation control remains a central priority for the BNA,” said the report.
