Consultant says that Angola will not have a new program with the IMF this year

"The relationship with the IMF this year will be one of economic advice and technical assistance, at least this year, which is an election year, and we will see if the evolution continues to be favorable in terms of public accounts", said Tiago Dionísio in an interview with Lusa agency forecasting the year 2022 for the Angolan economy.

"The IMF made a very positive assessment of the evolution of the program with Angola, and therefore we hope that things continue to go well and that new financial assistance is not needed", adds the economist, explaining that the 4.5 billion loan of dollars was made under very special conditions.

"The financial assistance was a lot to correct a certain imbalance caused by the abrupt drop in the price of oil, which had a very significant impact on the Angolan economy and caused a recession for five years," said Tiago Dionísio.

Eaglestone's forecast is in line with the statements made by the President of the Republic, who in an interview last week stated that the partnership with the IMF will "continue in other forms" from now on.

In an interview with five media outlets, including Lusa, João Lourenço argued that turning to the IMF was "an act of courage" that helped save the country from insolvency.

"At the time, they almost called us crazy, they turned the IMF into a bogeyman, that the agreement with the IMF was going to worsen the economic situation in Angola, but we analyzed the pros and cons, we talked to the director general, Christine Lagarde , and the truth is that today we are being rewarded for the courage we had in signing the agreement with the IMF", João Lourenço said, adding: "I don't know what would be the Angolan economy if we hadn't, not only signed, but strictly adhered to the terms of the agreement with the IMF," he added.

The financial adjustment program allowed a financial inflow of 4.5 million dollars, of which approximately 750 million dollars were delivered at the conclusion of the program, in December 2021.

The IMF had a very positive review of the program, repeatedly highlighting the involvement of the authorities and the almost complete fulfillment of both quantitative and qualitative targets.