IMF is not a "bogeyman" and the partnership with the Government will continue, guarantees João Lourenço

"At the time, they almost called us crazy, they turned the IMF into a bogeyman, that the agreement with the IMF would worsen the economic situation in Angola, but we analyzed the pros and cons, we spoke with 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. I do not know what the Angolan economy would be like if we had not not only signed, but strictly complied with the terms of the agreement with the IMF ", said João Lourenço, during a collective interview in Luanda.

The chief executive underlined that the national economy suffered "two hard blows" during his term (he took office in September 2017), including the drop in oil prices and the covid-19 pandemic that "paralyzed the economy world", but even so "much was done" in this period of crisis.

"Even so we behaved well, we encountered a very large external debt and even so, Angola was not declared a country in 'default' (insolvent)", he said, highlighting among one of the decisive factors the fact that he had the courage " against all predictions" to make a deal with the IMF.

"This increased our credibility, we benefited from financing from the IMF and the World Bank, it encouraged international creditors to issue Eurobonds to Angola and therefore the prospects for the near future, for 2022, are good", added the President, adding that the partnership will "continue in other ways".

In December, the IMF concluded the sixth and final review of its financial support program for the country, approving the disbursement of another US$748 million to Angola, thus raising the total made available under the agreement to approximately US$4.5 billion of dollars.

"The growth forecasts for the Angolan economy are good, the country will grow no matter how much or a little, it will grow", continued João Lourenço, pointing to other results such as the end of financing, providing oil with Brazil as a guarantee (collateral) and with Israel.

Furthermore, "we are taking very seriously our program of increasing domestic production and exports, diversifying the economy, empowering our private sector, attracting foreign direct investment, all of this encourages us, makes us optimistic to think. in days it gets better. What is happening with Angola only confirms that, in fact, after the storm, if we withstand the storm, the calm will soon follow," he continued.

He declined, however, to commit to the possibility of salary increases for this year.