The decision was released after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in which the main economic indicators were analyzed, as well as the macroeconomic impacts of the measures taken in previous sessions, as well as the developments of the covid-19 pandemic and its implications on the national and international economic environment.
In addition to increasing the interest rate on the Permanent Liquidity Absorption Facility with a seven-day maturity from 7 percent to 12 percent, the MPC decided to maintain the basic interest rate, Taxa BNA, at 15.5 percent and to maintain the interest rate on the Permanent Liquidity Assignment Facility indexed to the market interest rate on Treasury Bills for 91 days, plus 0.5 percent.
The Standing Liquidity Ceding Facility is the operation by which commercial operators turn to the central bank for credit to finance their activities.
The CPM also assessed compliance with Notice No. 10/2020, of April 3, on credit to the real sector of the economy, concluding that by the end of February 2021, the banking sector had granted credit amounting to 210.49 billion kwanzas, corresponding to 117.52 percent of the minimum amount stipulated by the central bank.
In terms of the number of projects with disbursements made, there was a compliance of 25.41 percent, added the BNA, which decided to extend the deadline for this notice from April 3 to the end of 2021.
The CPM noted in the statement, "that inflationary pressures persist in the national economy in the short term, despite the stability observed in the foreign exchange market and the behavior of liquidity, as well as the existence of contained aggregate demand.
According to the National Statistics Institute, the Consumer Price Index in Angola recorded an increase of 2.07 percent in February 2021, 0.57 percentage points higher than in the previous month (1.50 percent).
The accumulated inflation rate since the beginning of the current year stood at 3.60 percent, below the 3.80 percent recorded in the same period of 2020, with year-on-year inflation standing at 24.85 percent.
The Monetary Base in national currency grew by 12.75 percent in accumulated terms in the first two months of 2021 and 18 percent in the last 12 months, while the monetary aggregate M2 in National Currency (which brings together all bank deposits in national currency and the notes and coins in the possession of the public), contracted 1.30 percent in the first two months, but in year-on-year terms there was an expansion in the order of 24 percent.
In the first two months of 2021, the national currency accumulated gains of 2.61 percent and 3.89 percent against the dollar and the euro, respectively, maintaining a path of stability and normal functioning of the foreign exchange market.
The 'stock' of Gross International Reserves stood at 15.29 billion dollars in February 2021 (-0.72 percent against January), equivalent to a 12.29 month coverage of imports of goods and services.
Net International Reserves stood at $8.68 billion, down 1.32 percent from January.
The next regular meeting of the MPC is scheduled for May 28, 2021.
