In a press release, the ministry clarifies that the Price Regulation Reform initiative in Angola consists of the restructuring of two dimensions of price policy.
The reform of the institutional dimension aims to reinforce the institutional and technical role of sectoral regulators with the decentralization of the specialized powers in regulation for them.
The reform of the political dimension, which consists of the definition of services or goods "whose prices must be regulated", is the second dimension or axis of this reform.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the current price authority in the country, the proposal to reform price regulation "emerges within the scope of the Executive's efforts to improve the business and competition environment".
The guarantee of the "realization of the constitutional primacy of the organization and regulation of economic activities" and the "sustainability policy of public finances" are also foundations of this initiative.
For the authorities, the measure also stems from the need to "reposition" the role of the State to "move gradually from the figure of an economic operator State to a more progressive and more solid figure of a regulatory State".
The proposal, which aims at "greater specialization and efficiency" in dealing with the issue, states that the transfer of the competence of price regulation to the sectors "is conditioned to the existence of a specialized public institute, being immediate for the sectors where they exist".
The document notes that, as a result of this reform initiative, price regulation has already been automated for goods, services, sectors and corresponding public institutes, namely the Regulatory Institute for Water and Electricity Services and the Regulatory Institute for Oil Derivatives.
The automation of price regulation, the authorities assure, will follow for goods and services from the transport sectors, in the respective public institutes, and the telecommunications sector by the Angolan Institute of Communications.
The Ministry of Finance says it is working with the health, education and higher education and trade sectors to "find solutions" that result in the creation or transformation of sectoral regulatory bodies specializing in price regulation.
In order to guarantee the consistency and coordination of the income and price policy, the communiqué stresses, the transfer of the competences of price regulation to the health, education and higher education sectors and to the commerce sector will only be carried out after due consultation with the sectors and approval at the highest level.
During the transition period in which the proposed reform will take place, the Ministry of Finance, through the State Assets and Participations Management Institute (IGAPE), "will continue to exercise its powers in terms of price regulation".
