Angola: kwanza among ten most devalued currencies in the world

(AGI) - Luanda, Jan. 2 - The Angolan currency, the Kwanza, is among the ten most depreciated during the last year, according to the evolution of the national currencies during 2016. The Kwanza depreciated 18.9% in the official exchange, only surpassed by the currencies of Nigeria, Venezuela, Suriname, Egypt and Mozambique. Other countries whose currencies lost most in value in 2016 are of Mongolia, DR Congo and Sierra Leone. The fall of the Kwanza, which in the Black Market suffered a devaluation of 200%, is due to the drastic drop in the price of oil, the country's largest source of revenue and main export product. In 2015, revenues from the sale of oil abroad fell to less than half. According to information provided by the Angolan Ministry of Finance, in 2016 the situation did not improve and the cost of imports was aggravated. As a result, access to products, including food, mostly imported, was hampered due to weak local production capacity. The International Monetary Fund expects the country to grow by 1.5% in 2017. (AGI)
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