Angola needs around US$2 billion from IMF

LUANDA – Angola will meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials in Istanbul this month, in a bid to secure up to US$2 billion in loans to shore up its finances, a spokesman for the finance minister said yesterday.

Bastos de Almeida, spokesman for the Angolan Finance Minister, told Reuters the meeting would take place on the sidelines of an IMF and World Bank event, between September 28 and October 2. The meeting was initially expected to take place in Luanda.Angola rivals Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer but its oil revenues have been hit by low crude prices.De Almeida said the IMF had said it could offer Angola a loan of around US$500 million after it met with Angolan officials in Luanda last month but that Angola needed around US$2 billion to bolster its finances.’We are hoping to get much more than US$500 million. Angola needs to continue to rebuild infrastructure that was destroyed by the war, h he said, adding that Angola and the IMF should reach a final agreement in the second half of October.The talks show a thawing in relations between Angola and the IMF, which has been critical in the past about the way the African nation manages and accounts for its oil revenues.The Angolan government broke off talks with the IMF in 2007 and turned to China instead for billions in oil-backed loans. But a sharp drop in oil prices has weighed on Angola’s coffers, dependent on oil for nearly 90 per cent of their income.The central bank lost 28 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves since the start of the year as oil prices trade at less than half of last year’s high of over US$147 per barrel.The drop prompted the Angolan government to revise downwards its 2009 budget to around US$33,3 billion from US$40 billion and to delay around US$2 billion in payments to construction firms rebuilding roads, bridges and ailing communications.IMF officials, which first held discussions with the Angolan government and key donors in Luanda last month, praised Angola’s government for carrying out measures to increase fiscal discipline and stabilise the country’s foreign exchange reserves.’We hope that with the help of the IMF we can continue to fight the negative impact of the global recession on Angola, h said de Almeida. – Nampa-Reuters