Washington DC — The governor of the National Reserve Bank of Angola (BNA), José de Lima Massano, said Thursday (13), in Washington DC, that despite the excellent work carried out by the government, Angola still has major challenges ahead.

The official, who was speaking at the end of a three-forum cycle with Citigroup Inc., Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank, as part of the "Annual Meetings" of the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), held in the Washington DC, said that Angola was in an interesting phase, with the recovery of economic growth, lower inflation and stability of the foreign exchange market.

"But we are still in times of great challenges and the concerns are related to the international context", he stressed.

According to José Massano, while having interaction with investors and multilateral organisations, the biggest concern is the generalised rise in prices, interest rate rises and a prospect of slower growth in the world economy, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the Angolan economy.

He pointed out that "Oil, which is Angola's biggest export product, will be affected in the event of an economic slowdown".

The governor of the BNA reaffirmed the need for the Angolan government to continue working on macroeconomic stabilisation, to seek at all costs sustained growth of the economy, to be firm in reforms and in improving the business environment.

"It is not permitted a slow down, because the future is one of uncertainty for both developed and underdeveloped countries", he stressed.

On the other hand, the central bank of Angola considered it fundamental for the country to reduce food imports, despite the improvement being recorded in this area, having disclosed that until 2017 Angola imported about USD 250 million a month in foodstuffs, compared to USD 200 million currently registered.

José Massano urges the country to use the potential and the available means to accelerate programmes and provide sustainability for the development and well-being of Angolans.