Manuel Tiago Dias, who was speaking at a press conference after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, held on Monday and Tuesday, highlighted that all work is being done to achieve a single-digit inflation rate in the next two to three years.
The statement from the meeting said that annual inflation over the past 12 months maintained its downward trajectory for the seventh consecutive month in February, standing at 25.26 percent compared to 26.48 percent the previous month.
“This trend should continue in the coming months, taking into account, on the one hand, the adaptation of monetary conditions to the pace of growth in economic activity and, on the other hand, the greater availability of consumer products,” considers the Central Bank.
According to the BNA governor, the process is one of deceleration, but inflation remains high, highlighting that in June and July 2024 it reached 31 percent and in August the deceleration process began.
"It is a very high rate, which is why all efforts on the part of the National Bank of Angola will continue to be made so that we can achieve our medium to long-term objective, which is single-digit inflation. Until this happens, we have an inflation target of 17.5 percent by the end of this year (...) it is still high", highlighted Manuel Tiago Dias.
The BNA Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the BNA rate at 19.5 percent and the interest rate on the permanent liquidity provision facility at 20.5 percent, but to reduce the interest rate on the permanent liquidity absorption facility to 17.5 percent, with a view to “signaling the need for greater dynamics in the interbank money market”.
At the monetary level, the statement states that the monetary base in national currency contracted 3.62 percent in February of this year, after having contracted 0.07 percent last January, taking the accumulated variation to 3.69 percent.
According to the statement, the reduction in the monetary base in February this year was reflected in the decrease in notes and coins in circulation and also in mandatory reserves in national currency, by 0.45 percent and 10.96 percent, respectively.
Manuel Tiago Dias said that the ‘stock’ of notes and coins in public hands was also reduced by 3.21 percent in February and by 12.38 percent in accumulated terms.
The ‘stock’ of credit to the economy, in national currency, reached 6.24 trillion kwanzas in February 2025, representing an increase of 3.47 percent, compared to the month of January and an accumulated increase of 3.87 percent, that is, 232.77 billion kwanzas.
The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled for Luanda, on May 20 and 21.
