Angola: Inflation increases to an over one-year high in February
Inflation came in at 24.1% in February, up from January’s 22.0%. February’s reading represented the highest inflation rate since May 2022. The removal of petrol subsidies in June 2023 has driven up price pressures since Q3 2023.
Accordingly, annual average inflation rose to 15.5% in February (January: 14.5%).
Lastly, consumer prices rose 2.58% in February over the previous month, picking up from January’s 2.49% rise. February’s figure marked the highest reading since September 2018.
Faced with multi-month high inflation and rising social unrest amid a mounting cost-of-living crisis, on 1 March, the government announced a reduction in the value-added tax for food to 5%. That said, this measure—applied retroactively from 1 January 2024—will likely not prevent the rise in headline inflation. In particular, our Consensus is for inflation to accelerate notably on average this year from 2023 on recovering economic growth and as the remaining fuel subsidies are phased out. A weaker kwanza in year-on-year terms will add further impetus.