Luanda, July 1, 2026 (Lusa) – Standard Bank’s chief economist for Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo said in Luanda on Wednesday that Angola’s fiscal policy is “very prudent, but in a pre-election year the country needs to exercise greater caution to maintain fiscal discipline”.
Fáusio Mussá was speaking to the press at the end of the first session of Standard Bank Angola’s 2026 Economic Briefing, on the theme “Angola: Macroeconomic Stabilisation in an Environment of High Oil Price Volatility”, at which he was the keynote speaker.
According to Fáusio Mussá, the world is currently experiencing some turmoil due to the conflict in the Middle East, but there are hopes for peace in that region and for oil prices to stabilise, as they have been having a significant impact on certain value chains, such as those for fertilisers and other industrial products.
Angola needs to continue implementing reforms to attract local and foreign investment and improve the business environment, said Mussá, describing the results already achieved as encouraging, with data pointing to consistent growth underpinned by the non-oil sector, driven by investments in energy and agriculture and by import substitution across various projects.
The macroeconomic analyst emphasised that Angola has benefited from the rise in oil prices, which has created a more favourable economic environment; however, the opportunity to refine fuel subsidy policies can further enhance the gains this economic situation generates for the country.
“There has been a notably prudent fiscal policy and, above all, close coordination between fiscal and monetary policy to say some macroeconomic stability,” said Standard Bank’s chief economist for Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, further emphasising the Angolan Government’s prudence in making “no adjustments to the State Budget assumptions”, because “uncertainty and volatility are very high”.
Angola is set to hold its sixth general election in 2027, with Fáusio Mussá stressing that in pre-election years the risks of a fiscal slippage increase, necessitating greater attention to controlling government expenditure.
“Because as we approach the elections, there may be a desire to complete various projects that have been under development over the years, but which, for some reason, have not yet been completed due to the pace of progress,” he explained.
According to the analyst, from a public finance perspective, Angola must be able to continue “building up some buffers, some savings”, which will enable it to manage the impacts of oil price volatility; “Care must be taken to ensure that spending is focused on priority projects and that the impact of this spending on public debt and the fiscal balance can be mitigated, so that there are no peaks of pressure on the fiscal front.”
“This has been a rather interesting year. Angola recently gained access to international debt markets, issuing $4 billion in ‘Eurobonds’, but part of this revenue is being used to ease the repayment of future borrowings”, emphasised Fáusio Mussá, adding that this strategy “could help Angola ease the pressure of debt servicing, particularly in 2028 and 2029.
On the subject of inflation, Fáusio Mussá said that the forecast for Angola until the end of the year is 8.6%, stressing that two details are influencing inflation trends in the country, one of which is exchange rate stability since 2024, allowing economic agents to better manage their import margins, resulting in “a more contained rise in prices”.
“The second factor is that the government has been maintaining a fuel subsidy; whilst in Mozambique we saw a 45% increase in the price of diesel, which has an impact on inflation, the rise in diesel prices in Angola was only 5%. This suggests that Angola could see single-digit inflation, which would be a first for the country,” he said.
Standard Bank Group operates in 38 countries, 18 of which are in Africa, and is the largest private bank operating in Africa.
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