Carlos Rosado de Carvalho was speaking to Lusa after the presentation of Angola's latest economic report (2019-2020), produced by the Centre for Studies and Scientific Research (CEIC) of the Catholic University of Angola, which points to the maintenance of a recessionary trend in 2021.
"We will probably have the sixth recession in six years and, worse than that, the recovery will also be very slow, with very low growth rates until 2024," stressed the expert, warning of the growing risks of social instability in the face of a population growth of about 3 percent per year and the entry of 750,000 young people into the labor market annually.
"If we can't solve this growth problem, it's a very serious case," he noted.
The journalist also pointed negatively to the case of agriculture.
"The message that gets through is that everything is fine and nothing is done to solve these situations", he said, criticizing the electoralist policy of tractor distribution, which was focused this Tuesday in the presentation of the report by the agronomist engineer and founder of the Association for Rural Development and Environment (ADRA), Fernando Pacheco.
Carlos Rosado also lamented what he considers the weak investment in education, "which is the basis for sustainable growth," pointing out that these warnings are not new.
"But then we have the narrative that a lot is being produced and that this is changing when, in fact, this is not happening," he commented.
Questioned about the sustainability of the Angolan debt, which has been successively reaffirmed by the Executive, the economist considered that it depends on the price of oil.
"The debt is not necessarily bad, as long as the expenses are made in projects that bring sustainability and profitability. The Minister [of Finance, Vera Daves] herself has said that one of the challenges is the quality of spending. What worries me about debt is how the money is spent," said the economist, lamenting that money is spent "to impress voters".
Angola is preparing to hold general elections in 2022.
The Angola 2019-2020 economic report, produced by the CEIC of the Catholic University of Angola contains economic forecasts, addresses structural problems and risks of the Angolan economy, the role of agriculture and manufacturing, the banking situation, unemployment, issues such as globalization, exports and access to financial markets, among others.
