Angolan oil production began to recover in May and is expected to grow slightly by the end of the year, following a temporary decline in the first quarter, mainly due to maintenance operations, according to the consultancy firm Oxford Economics. The firm released predictions about the growth of the national economy throughout the current year on Monday.
The report cited by Lusa states, “The production decline was only temporary due to maintenance work, and production has already started to recover in May, with modest growth expected until the end of 2023.”
However, due to the losses in the first quarter, a decline in production is predicted, which will weigh on the overall economic growth this year, as the analysts write.
In their analysis, the consultancy firm has revised down the country’s economic growth forecast, anticipating an expansion of 1.9 percent due to the effects of the depreciation of the Kwanza on inflation and interest rates.
“We now predict that the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will slow from 2.5 to 1.9 percent in 2023,” write the analysts from the African Department of the British consultancy.
The GDP was at 0.3 percent in the first three months of 2023, in year-on-year terms, and declined by 1.1 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) at the beginning of the current month, which also indicates that this was the first time the quarterly GDP fell into negative territory since the second quarter of 2021.
Following the release of this latest data earlier this month, the Ministry of Economy and Planning ruled out any economic recession as a consequence of the stagnation in the first quarter of 2023, stating that “structural programs” should reverse the course of the evolution of this macroeconomic indicator.”
