[2019-04-04] Angola spends US$8.6 billion over three years on food imports

Source: Macauhub

Angola has spent US$8.6 billion importing food products over the last three years, of which half was spent buying basic basket products, said the governor of the National Bank of Angola.

José de Lima Massano, speaking in Luanda at the presentation of the notice on the concession of credit to the real sector of the economy, acknowledged that the import of food products has a very large weight in the country’s economy as well as in the balance of payments itself.

The governor, quoted by Angolan state news agency Angop, said this needed to change through a series of initiatives being implemented under the Programme to Support National Production, Diversification of Exports and Replacement of Imports (Prodesi).

Statistical figures disclosed at the meeting show that Angola spent US$2.347 billion in 2016, US$2.955 billion in 2017 and US$3.283 million in 2018 on food imports.

Lima Massano also reported that the weight of food imports in relation to foreign reserves had been growing, reaching 20% in 2018, although this increase is also due to the fact that the reserves themselves are decreasing.

The weight of agriculture in Angola’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is currently 6.21%, with a slight increase compared to 2016 and 2017, when it was 6.18% and 6.03%, respectively.