Luanda - The chief economist of the Standard Bank Fáusio Mussá on Wednesday praised the measures the Angolan Executive has outlined for the 2024 State Budget, mainly the incentive to increase farming in the country.
Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the 3rd edition of the Economic Briefing, organised by the Standard Bank in Luanda, Mussa said the successful implementation of the set of measures contained in the 2024 State Budget could mainly slow down the levels of food imports and the inflation rate in Angola.
The current budget has 148.3 billion kwanzas allocated for the Programme to Encourage farming in Angola.
The Standard Bank's chief economist for Angola and Mozambique also highlighted the reforms implemented by the government in recent years to make the economy more resilient and robust.
According to the expert, Standard Bank expects a growth of 1.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for this year, against the 0.4 percent projected in the 2023 State Budget, taking into account that the oil GDP grew 1.1 percent in the third quarter, in annual terms, as a result of the stability in oil production.
Given the stable oil production of 1.1 million barrels/day, it is expected that there will be positive growth in oil GDP in the coming quarters.
The Standard Bank estimates that the Angolan economy will grow 1.6 percent in 2024, a percentage lower than that forecast in the 2024 State Budget, which foresees a 2.8 percent economic growth.
The chief economist explained that there won't be many elements to sustain a strong acceleration in the growth of the Angolan economy, taking into consideration that a large part of the growth forecast for 2024 is based on the non-oil economy, one of the segments most affected by the shortage of foreign currency.
"Over the last few years, we've noticed that it's the non-oil sector that has accelerated growth in Angola's GDP. By way of example, there was growth of around 3 percent in 2022, in a context where there was still a large supply of foreign currency and a stable exchange rate," the expert said.
The participants in the 3rd edition of the Economic Briefing reflected on the "The paths to economic recovery in Angola", which served to project the possible scenarios for the Angolan economy, in particular, and the world economy, in general, in the coming years.
Standard Bank Group Limited is one of South Africa's largest financial services groups. It operates in 38 countries, 18 of which are in Africa. QCB/AMP
