Angola raises the price of diesel once more to support national coffers
The government of Angola increased the price of diesel by a third starting on Friday in an effort to reduce expensive subsidies and strengthen the country’s finances.
In 2023, the International Monetary Fund recommended the African oil-producing nation to progressively eliminate fuel subsidies.
Its economy is struggling due to the decline in the price of crude oil earlier this year, and it will have to repay almost $9 billion in external debt in 2025, including a Eurobond that matures in November.
For the second time this year, the price of fuel has increased from 300 kwanzas to 400 kwanzas ($0.4386) a litre.
The petroleum products regulator did not alter the price of liquefied petroleum gas or gasoline.
In October, Vera Daves de Sousa, the finance minister, told Reuters that the government intended to gradually eliminate fuel subsidies, which accounted for almost 4% of GDP the previous year.
Angola’s preliminary growth outlook for 2025 was lowered by the IMF from 3% to 2.4% in May, citing tightening external financing conditions and declining oil prices.
There was no apparent indication of societal upheaval in Angola on Friday, despite violent riots in 2023 sparked by an increase in the price of gasoline.
