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Angola inflation rises to 17.59 percent

17 Feb 2016, 02:37 pm
Chibuike Oguh
Angola inflation rises to 17.59 percent

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- Angolan central bank devalued the kwanza by 13 percent against the dollar on January 4th.

- CPI rose by 3.32 percent year-on-year during the period from December 2015 to January 2016.

Kwanzas

Inflation rate in Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer, has risen to its highest levels since December 2005 as the slump in oil prices continue to hammer the country’s economy.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 17.59 percent year-on-year in January 2016 from 14.27 percent recorded in December 2015, according to a report published by the Angolan statistics agency – the National Statistics Institute (INE) – on Tuesday.

The spike in Angola’s inflation rate came after the country’s central bank (BNA) devalued the kwanza by 13 percent against the dollar on January 4th. The value of the kwanza fell by over 24 percent in 2015. The bid price for the kwanza stood at 158.153 per dollar, according to latest data published on the BNA’s website.

The Governor of the Angolan central bank, Jose Pedro de Morais, has been trying to reduce the difference between the official rate of the kwanza and the black market rate, which hovered between 270 and 280 kwanzas per dollar last year.

Just like Nigeria’s central bank, the BNA has imposed strict foreign exchange measures, restricting forex sales to essential sectors and businesses as well as curbing foreign currency transactions. The Angolan foreign reserves stood at $24.17 billion as of July 2015.

In January, the Education segment recorded the biggest price increase, with 14.60 percent, followed by the Transport segment with 12.31 percent. The Housing, Water, Electricity, Fuels segment rose by 7.33 percent while the Miscellaneous Goods and Services segment rose by 3.67 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI rose by 3.32 percent year-on-year during the period from December 2015 to January 2016, the INE said.

The INE, which publishes price indexes for Angola’s 18 provinces, said the provinces with highest price variations in January on a month-on-month basis were: Luanda with 3.43 percent, Kwanza-Sul with 3.26 percent, and Zaire with 3.23 percent. The provinces with the lowest month-on-month variations were: Uige with 1.99 percent, Benguela with 2.08 percent, and Kwanza-Norte with 2.24 percent.

Oil price shocks have affected commodity exporting countries like Angola where government revenues have significantly dipped. Last year the Angolan government trimmed its budget by nearly 30 percent and said it would borrow over $25 billion. Oil accounts for nearly 50 percent of Angola's GDP, 80 percent of government revenues and 95 percent of the country's exports.


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