[2019-04-11] Angola’s National Bank calls on commercial banks to support economic diversification process

Source: Macauhub

The National Bank of Angola (BNA) has warned commercial banks operating in the country to comply with a Notice regarding the granting of credit to support the country’s economic diversification process, in a statement published on the central bank’s website.

The central bank recalled that the instructions are set out in Notice 4/2019, approved on 2 April by the board of directors, which requires banks to grant loans in 2019 of at least 2.0% of the total value of the assets registered on 31 December 2018, with fees up to a maximum of 7.5% (commissions included).

The BNA recalls that the Angolan government recently launched two initiatives to promote the diversification of the Angolan economy and, thereby, reduce excessive dependence on imports of goods and services and contributing to the sustainability of the country’s external accounts.

One of these initiatives is the Programme to Support Production, Export Diversification and Substitution of Imports (Prodesi), “an instrument for coordination and partnership between government and the business sector, focused on accelerating private initiatives that may in the short, medium and long-term, allow an increase in domestic production, diversify exports and replace imports.”

The second initiative is the “Regulation of the Commercial Chain of Supply of the Basic Basket and Other Priority Goods of National Origin,” approved by Presidential Decree 23/19 of 14 January, which “conditions the import of certain products in order to prioritise consumption of domestic products.”

“The BNA, in order to support these initiatives, considered it appropriate to regulate the granting of credit by commercial banks to domestic producers of certain goods considered essential and whose domestic production does not meet domestic demand,” the document said.