According to the governor of the BNA, José de Lima Massano, the aforementioned special regime for the housing segment, a credit initiative that emerges from notice 9/22 of the Angolan central bank, is marking the first steps, "but the access rules need to be better understood".
"About 37.35 percent of the 168 requests submitted have already been approved and another 30 percent are currently under analysis by the commercial banks", said José de Lima Massano, in Luanda, on Thursday.
Speaking at the opening of the II Banca e Seguros Forum, Massano acknowledged "there are still few eligible applications" for housing credits, admitting greater dynamics in the process "as access rules are better understood and mastered", especially by commercial banking and by potential credit sealers.
"We can announce here that in 2023 this notice (which establishes the special regime for housing loans to individuals and the construction of housing projects) will be adjusted to consider self-construction for housing purposes", assured the BNA governor.
José de Lima Massano, recently reappointed to the post for a six-year term, also noted that credit to the private business sector under notice 10/22 until last October totaled 797 billion kwanzas.
And of that amount "only 10 credits refer to structured operations totaling 102.18 billion kwanzas", he said.
"The experience we have had with this regime recommends its maintenance, which may merit adjustments so that the agri-food sector continues to stand out", he stressed.
Angola will end 2022 with an inflation rate below 16 percent, as assured by the governor of the BNA, with a view to maintaining a course of price stability in the Angolan economy for 2023.
"The positive effects of this retreat in inflation are also starting to be more visible on a day-to-day basis", he said, highlighting the drop in the Luibor rate as a decisive factor in the course of inflation.
According to José de Lima Massano, the Luibor rate 12 months ago, "which is the most used index for loans in national currency which at the end of last year stood at 24.73 percent is currently at 15.27 percent a significant drop of 12.40 percentage points".
"Relieving in many cases the financial burden of companies and families with banking responsibility, but there are risks, both internal and external, that could influence this trajectory", he explained.
"The national economy remains very dependent on imports and oil export revenues, the latter being our main source of foreign currency resources derived from the market price and the quantity exported", he recalled.
He pointed out that the monetary stimuli implemented during the 2019 pandemic and the war in Eastern Europe "have been contributing to a generalized increase in prices" which, he noted, "inevitably led to an increase in interest rates in the main international financial markets".
"Viable Solutions for Economic Growth" is the motto of the forum promoted by the Association of Economic Journalists of Angola (Ajeco).
On the subject of prices, the main manager of the central bank also made known that the ratio of non-performing loans in the Angolan financial system is currently around 21 percent, "having already reached higher values".
"A consequence of this situation, in addition to discouraging banks, is the increase in credit prices, because the bad debt cannot be covered by customer deposits, but by the banks' profits that result from the financial margin, in turn dependent on interest rates applied," he pointed out.
With regard to guarantees, he recognized "the important role they have for banks in granting credit and, consequently, the need to ensure that they can be properly registered and enforced".
In this sense, he added, the BNA "has been interacting with the competent authorities, seeking to convey the importance and urgency of facilitating the registration of rights, including property rights, as well as the ability to quickly resolve disputes".
The BNA governor also considered, in his speech, that the success of Angola "depends on the sustainable growth of our economy and access to credit is one of the fundamental factors for its development".
"But, the risk appetite must be established in order to guarantee the sustainability of our financial system, throughout this process the transmission of reliable, relevant economic and financial information in a format that is easily understood by citizens is extremely important", concluded José de Lima Massano.
