By www.CentralBankNews.info Angola’s central bank cut its BNA base rate by 25 basis points to 10.0 percent and said the country’s inflation rate in December continued to decline and hit the “lowest rate in Angola’s recent economic history.”
Angola’s annual inflation rate fell to 9.02 percent in December, the lowest that can be observed since January 2001, from 9.83 percent in November. The National Bank of Angola (BNA) has aimed to get inflation into single digits for many years and in August the rate fell below 10 percent for the first time ever and is continuing to decline.
The central bank, which also cut its base rate by 25 basis points last January but then kept rates steady the rest of the year, said the subindex for food and non-alcoholic beverages, miscellaneous goods and services and clothing and footwear recorded the biggest changes in December. It did not give further details.
Credit extended to the economy grew by 1.12 percent in December, for growth in 2012 of around 23 percent, continuing the trend seen in previous months, the BNA said.
The average exchange rate of the kwanza to the U.S. dollar was 95.826 at the end of December for a slight depreciation of 0.57 percent during 2012, “showing the stability of the national currency,” BNA said.
