Angola prepares sixth and final assessment of IMF's Extended Fund Facility, says official

Under the Extended Fund Facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Angola is preparing the sixth and final assessment of the extended agreement, authorities informed as reported by Xinhua news agency. In a media briefing, Milton Reis, the country's secretary of state for planning, stated that Ministries of Finance, Economy and Planning, Mineral Resources and Petroleum are working together with the National Bank of Angola to prepare the assessment of the agreement. He further informed that an IMF team is carrying out a virtual visit from September 6 to 13. The Ministry of Economy and Planning has been assigned to present the performance assessment of the real sector of the economy up to the first half of 2021 during the online visit of the IMF officials. 

With an emphasis on the oil, natural gas and non-oil sectors, the country is also presenting prospects for 2022, Reis said, adding that a report will also be presented on the steps taken to boost the implementation of public-private partnerships, reported Xinhua news agency. The extended agreement under the Extended Fund Facility intends to restore external and fiscal sustainability. It also sets down the foundation for sustainable economic diversification, with the private sector leading the market, according to the Xinhua news agency. Fiscal consolidation to bring debt to safer levels, higher exchange rate flexibility to regain competitiveness and a supportive monetary policy to reduce inflation are essential pillars of the programme. 

IMF urges world’s richest nations to help poor countries

In July, Chief of International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva had urged the world’s richest nations to come forward to help the poor countries withstand the "devastating double blow" of the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent economic damage. In an online post, she had highlighted the "deepening divergence" between the rich and the poor and called on the G-20 nations to take immediate steps to keep developing nations from falling further behind access to vaccines. According to the IMF Managing Director, while the US is poised to grow at the fastest pace since 1984, Europe and China are also expected to catch momentum. However, it is the developing world that would be left behind by a "worsening two-track recovery, driven by dramatic differences in vaccine availability, infection rates, and the ability to provide policy support."

Image: AP