"We anticipate that the average inflation rate will rise slightly from 22.2 percent in 2020 to 22.6 percent this year, before slowing down significantly to 14.6 percent in 2022," write analysts at this African branch of the British consultant. Oxford Economics.
In a comment on the release of the data by the National Statistics Institute of Angola, sent to customers and to which Lusa had access, analysts predict that the National Bank of Angola will not lower the main interest rate until next year and warn of a new devaluation of the kwanza during this year.
"Despite depressed economic conditions, inflation rose from 17.9 percent in 2019 to 22.2 percent this year, mainly due to the fall in oil prices last year and exchange rate liberalization in 2019, which caused the kwanza lost almost 26 percent of its value in 2020 ", analysts write, noting that in early January the kwanza fell to its lowest value, taking 652 kwanzas to buy a dollar.
"The local currency remains vulnerable to changes in global sentiment and is expected to continue to depreciate this year, albeit at a slower pace than in 2020, to more than 15 percent," they warn.
This depreciation, they conclude, "will put additional pressure on prices, due to Angola's strong dependence on imported goods."
According to the Angolan statistics institute, inflation in December rose to the highest level since October 2017, with the consumer price index registering an increase of 25.1 percent in the last month of 2020 compared to the period 2019 counterpart.
