Angola’s economy to grow by 3.9 percent-IMF

Angola’s economy is expected to grow by 3.9 percent in 2014 despite a decline in oil output, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a statement on Thursday.According to the Washington-based Fund, robust growth in the nonoil economy, mainly driven by a very good performance in the agricultural sector, is expected to offset a temporary but considerable drop in oil production.

“Ongoing investments in agriculture are expected to pay off with an increase in agriculture production by about 11.5 percent in 2014,� the statement said.

It added that inflation projected to reach 7.5 percent by end-2014 was well within the Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA)’s objective.

The IMF said the overall fiscal balance, which was in surplus in the last four years, was expected to deteriorate substantially in 2014, reaching a deficit of around 4 percent of GDP.

Oil revenue fell by 14 percent during January-May 2014, mainly due to a 10 percent decline in oil production related to unscheduled maintenance and repair work in some oil fields, it concluded.