- Decision
- Maintain
- Rate change
- 0 bps
- BNA rate
- 19.5%
The Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) of the National Bank of Angola on 21 January 2025 left the benchmark BNA rate unchanged at 19.5 percent, judging existing monetary conditions consistent with the ongoing but still elevated disinflation process after end-2024 inflation eased to 27.5 percent despite a slight monthly uptick to 1.70 percent in December. It also kept the standing lending and deposit facility rates at 20.5 percent and 18.5 percent respectively, while trimming the kwanza-denominated reserve-requirement ratio to 20 percent from 21 percent to inject about AOA 100 billion and pull interbank rates closer to the policy rate. Annual GDP expanded 4.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2024, and the central bank estimates full-year growth of 4.4 percent, with a further 3.5 percent rise projected for 2025, led by non-oil activity; credit to the economy rose 32.8 percent in 2024. The goods-trade surplus reached USD 22.0 billion last year as imports fell nearly 6 percent, while international reserves increased to USD 15.6 billion and the kwanza depreciated 9.1 percent, a markedly slower slide than in 2023. Globally, the IMF puts 2024 growth at 3.2 percent amid broad monetary easing in major economies, lower energy prices—oil averaged USD 79.84/bbl in 2024 and is seen dropping to USD 69.76 in 2025—and higher gold prices on geopolitical tensions. The CPM projects end-2025 inflation at 17.5 percent and will hold its next meeting on 17-18 March 2025 in Ondjiva.
Rate evolution
From July 2025 to September 2026, the National Bank of Angola cut the policy rate by 475 basis points to 14.75%, after a hold at 19.5%, reductions through January 2026, a pause in March and renewed easing in May, July and September. The move from July 2025’s hold to the September-November-January easing cycle was driven by a consistent slowdown in inflation, supported by greater availability of consumer goods, liquidity conditions judged appropriate for economic activity and exchange-rate stability, with the Committee adding that monetary indicators pointed to lower short-term inflation pressures.
That easing was tempered by recurring references to international uncertainty, first around administered-price adjustments and external accounts, and then around intensifying geopolitical tensions and oil prices, prompting a prudent hold in March despite further disinflation. The Bank resumed cutting in May after judging the inflation trajectory and short-term outlook favourable, and in July cited continued disinflation across the country and no visible inflationary pressures in the coming months despite diesel and electricity price adjustments and base money growth linked mainly to the Treasury’s clearance of 2025 arrears to companies. In September, it lowered the policy rate by 100 basis points and cut the reserve requirement ratio in domestic currency to 16.5%, citing progress in inflation and its short- and medium-term outlook. Annual inflation declined to 8.78% in August, while the Bank maintained its end-2026 inflation projection at 8.6% with a margin of plus or minus 1 percentage point and raised its GDP growth forecast to 6.15% on stronger non-oil activity.