"Lower import costs are expected to help stimulate the construction and manufacturing sectors, which have stagnated due to the weak economy, resulting in a weakening of the kwanza and a lack of foreign currency, making payments abroad difficult," analysts write in a comment on the changes to the customs tariff, which entered into force on 29 December.
In the comment sent to investors by the team of analysts of the British magazine The Economist, to which Lusa had access, it is read that "the existence of many non-tariff barriers, such as power cuts, excessive bureaucracy, endemic corruption and the lack of qualified labor will need to be resolved in order to take tangible improvement steps that help the business environment and increase investor confidence".
The changes took effect on December 29 and exempt imported materials that are part of private investment projects, analysts recall, stressing that "the revision of the legislation also exempts government aid organizations from paying for imports and eliminates the 5 per percent in exports of raw materials, which should give a boost to the non-diamond mining sector".
The customs tariff review is the third in less than a decade, after the last change in August 2018, "ending with a highly protectionist regime, which intended, but failed, to increase local production and decrease the need for food imports and other basic products," write analysts.
This latest review, concludes the EIU, "supports the Government's commitment to stimulate investment and development in the private sector, which the country needs if it wants, even partially, to succeed in efforts to diversify the economy".
