"Banks should advise their clients to research markets with recent records of marked depreciation of their currencies, reducing the exchange rate transmission effect on the price of food products to domestic consumers (South Africa, Latin America and Asia) ) ", recommends the BNA in a document that summarizes a meeting with the Angolan Association of Banks held last Friday.
The meeting served to address the topic of the covid-19 pandemic and measures to be taken, with the BNA advising "alignment and coordination of actions in the sector, to avoid the adoption of disparate measures packages by banks".
The document, to which Lusa had access, also states that the BNA had "recent interaction with the major economic operators", whose indicators point to a 'stock' of imported food for two to three months.
The BNA suggested the bank's support to start "promptly the ordering process for the following months" and the maintenance of support to national producers to reduce the need to appeal to the foreign market.
The country has goods and products to supply the market for at least three months, but it needs to build up reserves so there is no shortage while the new coronavirus pandemic is under way, business associations said last week.
Trade sector operators participated in Luanda in a meeting with the Minister of Commerce to analyze the forecast of existing stock for food supply and to draw up a food contingency plan due to the covid-19 disease.
The president of the Association of Modern Commerce and Distribution Companies of Angola (Ecodima), Raul Mateus, said, after the meeting, that the internal reserve is quite satisfactory for a quarter, but a reinforcement is needed.
In addition to the reinforcement of 'stock', Raul Mateus defended the need to improve the administrative system, "to facilitate some acquisitions more quickly" in the sense that there will be no problems within three months.
Asked if the country has a guaranteed supply chain for imported products, namely from China and Portugal, which lead exports to Angola and are affected by the pandemic, the businessman said that the food sector has not stopped producing.
In turn, the president of the Industrial Association of Angola (AIA), José Severino, defended greater regional cooperation, especially with South Africa, which has a very large supply capacity, taking into account the crisis of the new coronavirus.
"We have the crisis of the new coronavirus and international markets are closing and we have to turn a lot to what are the relations here in the region, particularly South Africa and Zambia, and also a lot for our domestic production", he advocated .
