Luanda,23 July (ANGOP) – The governor of the Central Bank of Angola (BNA), José de Lima Massano, informed this Wednesday, in Luanda, that the country has foreign exchange reserves of about 14.7 billion US dollars, which he deemed enough for covering eleven months of imports.
José de Lima Massano revealed the data in the National Assembly, as part of today’s approval of the General State Account for the 2019 fiscal year.
According to the governor, fiscal year 2019 was positive because there was an increase in foreign exchange reserves, « something that hasn’t happened since the year 2013 ».
He indicated that the mentioned fiscal year also registered a positive balance of payments, « something that the country has not also experienced in many fiscal years ».
He informed that, in the period under review, the BNA withdrew licences from three banking institutions.
The minister of State for Economic Coordination, Manuel Nunes Júnior, highlighted, on the occasion, the importance of fiscal consolidation for the country’s growth.
He said that the Executive’s objective is to get out of the recession the country is facing and continue to have economic growth, to create jobs and income for families.
Meanwhile, the minister of Economy and Planning, Sérgio Santos, pointed out that the increase in jobs is one of the main concerns of the Executive.
He noted that in 2019 the unemployment rate in the country was at 31.1%.
« We are talking about five million unemployed Angolans and the reality has not changed much yet, » he noted.
According to the minister, in an economically active population of 15 million, one third does not have a job, which calls for an increase in national production to generate new jobs.
As part of the increase in national production, he indicated, in the last two years more than two hundred cooperatives had access to financing, in the order of 700 billion kwanzas ($1.081.230.676 equivalent).
