Angola: Inflation ticks up to over seven-year high in July
Inflation came in at 31.1% in July, which was up from June’s 31.0%. July’s figure was the highest reading since May 2017 and moved further above the Central Bank’s 23.0% target for the end of this year. Price pressures continued to be fueled by the continued weakening of the kwanza and the scaling back of petrol subsidies. That said, the National Bank of Angola noted in its latest communiqué that domestic food supply has improved over the past months, which likely capped the overall increase in consumer prices in July.
Accordingly, the trend pointed up, with annual average inflation rising to 23.2% in July (June: 21.6%).
Lastly, consumer prices increased 1.68% over the previous month in July, which was below the 2.07% increase logged in June. July’s result marked the softest rise in prices in a year.
EIU analysts commented:
“We expect the upward trend to continue in 2024-25 owing to high regional food prices caused by the El Niño weather event, kwanza depreciation due to foreign-currency shortages and the paring back of diesel and other subsidies. Accordingly, we forecast that average inflation will rise from 13.6% in 2023 to 30.2% in 2024.”