President highlights non-oil sector role

 Luanda – Angolan president João Lourenço said this Saturday that Angola recorded in 2021 a growth of 0.7 percent in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as a result of an increase in the non-oil sector, of 6.4 percent.

In his State of the National Speech, the Head of State highlighted, among the non-oil sectors that contributed to global GDP growth, agriculture and livestock, fisheries, manufacturing and extractive industries, especially diamonds, trade, construction, transport and other services.

He explained that the oil sector suffered a contraction of 11.6 percent.

João Lourenço noted that the data for the first half of this year point to a GDP growth of 3.2 percent, which shows that the focus on national production is beginning to bear fruit.

"We will continue to intensify efforts  because we are on the right track. It is estimated that, in 2022, the economy will grow by 2.7 percent, once again with a performance led by the non-oil sector ", he stressed.

This economic growth, he explained, will continue to rely on the contribution of the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Programme (PRODESI) and other sector-related programmes, as well as the Privatisation Programme (PROPRIV), started in mid-2019.

As for PROPRIV, he said that 94 privatisation processes were concluded, including 71 assets and 23 shareholdings in companies, whose signed contracts correspond to an aggregate value of 961. 014 billion kwanzas.

Of this amount, he added, the National Treasury has already allocated 565.6 billion kwanzas, which corresponds to almost 59 percent of the total value of the contracts.

"Many of these assets were abandoned or paralyzed, until the date they were privatised, and today, 47.1 percent of them are in full operation. The others (...), in the start-up phase, paying tax, contributing to the increase in jobs in the country", he concluded.

As for the general level of prices in the economy, the Head of State recalled that, after changing the growth trajectory of the inflation rate, which had dropped from 42 percent in 2016 to 17.1 percent in 2019, in 2021, due to Covid-19, this indicator increased to 30.4 percent.

However, the Holder of the Executive Power said that in 2022 there is "a clearly decreasing trajectory in inflation rates, with the year-on-year inflation rate standing at 18.16 percent, in August.

"The forecast is that the cumulative inflation rate will be below 18 percent by the end of this year," he said.

This evolution, he pointed out, is the result of the measures taken by the Executive to limit the effects of the increase in the prices of products of wide consumption on the lives of the populations.

Among the measures adopted, he highlighted exemption in the payment of customs duties and the reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT), in 50 percent (out of 14 percent) of some of these products and the start-up of the Strategic Food Reserve (REA) ).

The President of the Republic clarified that the combination of these measures and the increase that is taking place in the supply of some national production has had a positive effect, under the trajectory of inflation.