"By introducing the custody fee on the excess liquidity of commercial banks, Banco Nacional de Angola aims to encourage an increase in the level of intermediation of financial resources between commercial banks and other economic agents, with the underlying objective of stimulating activity economic ", justifies the regulator in a statement.
The decision was taken by the Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of Angola (CPM), which analyzed the recent behavior of the main economic indicators, "in an environment that continues to be negatively affected by the covid-19 pandemic".
This analysis highlighted the persistence of risk factors for inflation, bearing in mind the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and the monetary effects of stimulus measures.
The BNA therefore decided to maintain several of the guidelines already adopted: to maintain the basic interest rate at 15.50 percent; the Permanent Liquidity Provision Facility at 15.50 percent; and the Permanent Liquidity Absorption Facility, with an Overnight maturity of 0 percent; keep the coefficients of mandatory reserves in national and foreign currency at 22 percent and 15 percent, respectively; maintain the interest rate of the Permanent Liquidity Absorption Facility, with a maturity of 7 days at 7 percent.
The Permanent Liquidity Provision Facility window, with Overnight maturity, up to 100 billion kwanzas, which is renewable on a quarterly basis, in a non-cumulative manner, throughout the economic year 2020 is also active.
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), economic activity deteriorated in the first quarter, compared to the same period in 2019, with a drop of 1.8 percent in real GDP, a situation that will also have prevailed in the second quarter. , CPM advances.
In June, the National Consumer Price Index registered a monthly rate of change of 1.74 percent, below the 1.94 percent recorded in the previous month, which results in an annual inflation of 22.62 percent, level above that observed in May (21.82 percent).
The CPM concluded that "food inflation continues to contribute to a large extent to the rising trend of full inflation, having stood at 27.87 percent year on year", the highest level since February 2018.
For this reason, the CPM "reiterates its commitment to maintaining price stability in the economy and, to that end, will continue to monitor all factors that determine inflation, both on the supply and demand side".
As for the 'stock' of gross international reserves, in June 2020 it was set at US $ 15.6 billion, corresponding to a coverage level of 11.76 months of imports of goods and services.
Net International Reserves (RIL) stood at US $ 10.41 billion, compared to US $ 10.24 billion in May, representing an increase of US $ 166.67 million.
The next ordinary meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of Angola will be held on 28 September 2020.