Luanda, Nov. 14, 2024 (Lusa) - Angola's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by an average of 4.1% in the first two quarters, the government announced on Thursday, promising to implement the 450 billion kwanza National School Feeding Plan in 2025.
The minister for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, who presented the Angolan president's message to parliament on the proposed 2024 state budget, said that the first half of 2024 had been ‘encouraging’ in terms of economic growth.
José de Lima Massano, noting that this was a trend not seen in the Angolan economy since 2015, said that "the first two quarters of 2024 were encouraging from the point of view of economic growth, with GDP growing by an average of 4.1%".
Today the Angolan parliament is debating the first reading of the draft 2025 state budget, which estimates revenue and sets expenditure of 34.63 trillion kwanzas (around €35 billion) and foresees a high debt service that will absorb almost 50% of budget expenditure, totalling 16.5 trillion kwanzas (around €17 billion), of which 12.45 trillion kwanzas will be used to repay the debt.
José de Lima Massano pointed out that the proposed budget for 2025 includes concrete actions to protect families, incomes and promote economic growth, highlighting that the government will strengthen the School Meals Programme by adopting a National School Feeding Plan, which will have a budget allocation of 450 billion kwanzas ( €463 million).
He argued that the reinforcement of this programme is aimed at ‘progressively’ reaching all state primary schools, including nursery classes, believing that the measure should help to reduce child malnutrition and reinforce the incentive to attend school.
He pointed out that domestically inflationary pressures "are still very much felt, despite the slowdown that has been noticeable in recent months, with recognised progress in the areas of domestic production of essential consumer goods".
The minister noted that "productivity, scale and commercial organisation and other challenges prevail which have influenced the formation and stability of prices", assuring that the strategic options of the 2025 state budget "are positive" and are in line with the priorities and objectives established in the 2023-2027 National Development Plan.
In the social area, the minister assured that the Social Programme of Monetary Transfers ‘Kwenda’ will also be reinforced in this state budget, which will make 191.6 billion kwanzas available, allowing citizens in situations of high vulnerability to continue to count on direct institutional support from the state to mitigate and overcome the difficulties they still face.
Massano also emphasised that the proposed state budget for 2025 includes resources so that the three new provinces and municipalities created recently as part of the country's new administrative division can function normally from the beginning of 2025.
Other aspects of this budget proposal for 2025 were put forward on the occasion by Angola's minister of finance, Vera Daves, emphasising that the document, prepared with a reference price of US$70 per barrel of oil, estimates production of 1.98 million barrels/day.
According to the Angolan minister, reinforcing food security and strengthening national production, strengthening protection for the most vulnerable and the executive's efforts to combat poverty are among the priorities of this budget.
"We must also improve the performance of the Public Investment Programme, because we understand that stalled and unfinished projects represent a huge burden for the state, especially because the costs of resumption are high," said Vera Daves.
DAS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
