Luanda - Angola’s graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Middle Income Country (MIC) requires strengthening of productive capacity, improved competitiveness and a more solid economy, the Secretary of State for Planning Milton Reis said Thursday.
Speaking at the usual briefing of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), the official said the graduation is an incentive for the country to develop its national productive capacity and that the government is committed to the process, which is visible in the National Strategy for the Smooth Transition of Angola (ENTS).
Reis added that the government is currently working with the support of the United Nations System in Angola, the European Union and the United States to enable its smooth transition strategy in line with the country’s sustainable development goals and internal commitments to increase productive capacity.
The Secretary highlighted that Wednesday's seminar on "Angola's National Soft Transition Strategy served to evaluate the results, define paths, and design a work plan proposal, in view of the elaboration and monitoring process of Angola's graduation strategy from LDC to MIC.
Milton Reis assured that the strategy will define measures to allow the country to reach an acceptable level of development for graduation that should focus on improving the indices not achieved during eligibility, the indices of human capital and economic vulnerability.
In 2012, the Development Policy Committee of the UN Economic and Social Department determined, at the request of the Angolan Executive, the eligibility of Angola's graduation for the first time. Thus, the General Assembly recommended the country's promotion for 2018.
In 2015, Angola was forced to request the extension of the transition period for graduation from 2018 to 2021 following the sharp drop in oil prices derived from the global economic and financial crisis.
In 2021 the country requested an additional three years to allow the national economy to recover, due to the unexpected and unprecedented impact derived from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The criteria for the graduation to MIC are the Gross Domestic Product, as an indicator of the capacity to generate income, the Human Capital Index, an indicator of human capital reserves, and the Economic Vulnerability Index, an indicator of economic vulnerability to exogenous crises.
The Secretary of State for Planning explained that the financial literacy survey started on April 1 and ends in August adding that it will provide statistical data for the development of the financial inclusion observatory, which includes the calculation of the financial inclusion index and the rate of banking in Angola, through the updating of the data base and contribute to the process of improving the monitoring of the country's financial system.
The survey will collect information on demographic statistics, education and school attendance, employment status, entrepreneurship, income, financial well-being, banking services, consumer protection, savings and investment.
