Angola maintains rate as inflation continues to fall

    Angola's central bank maintained its policy rates, including its benchmark BNA rate at 9.25 percent, citing a further decline in inflation, growing credit to the economy and a stable exchange rate for the kwanza currency.
    The National Bank of Angola (BNA), which has kept its policy rate steady since November 2013 after cutting it by 100 basis points last year, on April 1 cut the rate on its standing lending liquidity facility by 25 basis points to 10 percent and raised the rate on its liquidity absorption facility by 25 basis points to 1.50 percent.
    Angola's headline inflation rate eased to 7.32 percent in March from 7.48 percent in February, the 10th consecutive month with falling consumer prices.
    Credit to the economy grew by 1.71 percent in March and in the foreign exchange market, banks purchased US$ 2.518 billion of foreign currency, with $1.075 billion at the BNA and the remainder in the secondary market.
    The average exchange rate of the kwanza was 97.61 per U.S. dollar, unchanged since the beginning of the year.
    Earlier this month, the central bank said its foreign exchange reserves fell to $30 billion in February from $30.6 billion in January.

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