"The increase in prices [of basic basket products] has two components: demand and supply. As long as our offer is fed by imports, the price will always have this volatility", said on Friday Vítor Fernandes, when asked about the consequences of the increase in fuel prices on products.
According to the government official, who was speaking to journalists on Friday in the "Dialogue with the Minister" space, the collapse in prices would be greater if it weren't for the actions of the REA.
The Strategic Food Reserve "is working", but Angola "is not immune to the international scenario", he noted.
"If we produced everything we eat we wouldn't have this inflationary problem, but we are studying mechanisms to accelerate the action of the REA", he stressed.
A liter of gasoline has been sold in Angola for a week at a price of 300 kwanzas, against the previous 160 kwanzas, and there are reports of an increase in the price of taxis and some products in the basic basket.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce also assured that the authorities are attentive to the speculative effect of prices as a result of the increase in gasoline.
Rice, corn, soy, sugar and chicken are some of the products that make up the REA, whose operation by a private group began on December 22, 2021, a Government initiative aimed at promoting the reduction of prices of essential food products.
Vítor Fernandes made it known, in his speech, that this year the REA will not import maize because the entity has a contract with 58,000 families, spread across the country, who are producing the cereal for the body's stock.
He was equally optimistic that Angola could achieve food self-sufficiency in 2027, arguing that the country had to be self-sufficient in maize meal, chicken, which the country imports in colossal quantities, and other products.
He also said that the country has 11 million tons of cassava planted and urged operators to bet on the value chain of this tuber, as there is space, financing and buyers for this product and its derivatives in the country.
The balance of actions carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 guided the communication by the head of the department.
With regard to industry, Vítor Fernandes said that the sector, which saw a 5.5 percent drop in investment in the manufacturing industry subsector and 30 percent in terms of licensing in 2022, due to the international outlook, grew by 6, 6 percent and should rise to 7 percent in 2023.
A 2023-2027 Industrial Development Plan is being prepared and this "should accompany the program to promote production and diversify the national economy", he concluded.
