Angola is seeking a budget support loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB), its Finance Minister told Reuters, as the government pushes to shield vulnerable citizens from the fallout from the war in the Middle East and manage debt costs.
The country is in talks with the AfDB for $165 million and is considering tapping bilateral lending and international markets for the remaining roughly $1 billion in external financing Angola is targeting this year.
“This is a work in progress,” Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa told Reuters about the AfDB loan on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.
The loan, she said, would require policy measures that Angola is still working to implement before it can go to the AfDB board for approval. She did not give an indication of when this would happen.
The West African oil-producing nation will get a windfall from higher crude prices due to the war. Its 2026 budget used a reference price of $61 per barrel, but Brent crude is currently trading at just under $100.
–Reuters–
