Data from the Financial System Indicators report of the National Bank of Angola, cited by Expansão, show that at the end of last year, overdue credit corresponded to around 2.207 billion dollars, representing 20.3 percent of total credit granted.
According to calculations by Expansão, the percentage of non-performing loans increased by 1.85 points between the end of 2020 and 2021: from 18.41 percent to 20.3 percent.
In the period under analysis – according to Expansão – the credit portfolio of banking institutions increased to six billion kwanzas (about 5.5 percent), with non-performing loans increasing by around 172 billion kwanzas.
According to experts, cited by Expansão, among the reasons that justify the growth of overdue credit is inflation as well as the economic situation, where the high unemployment rate and the drop in the population's income have placed obstacles in the way of complying with the banks.
Added to this scenario is the restrictive monetary policy of the BNA, which last year, with a view to stopping inflation, increased the basic interest rate by around five percent (from 15.5 percent to 20 percent), contributing to the growth of interest rates on the population's loans.
According to Expansão, bad debt in the country reached its peak in June 2019, where it corresponded to 35.5 percent of total credit.
