Angola's government has forecast gross domestic product growth of 8.8 percent in 2014 with consumer inflation expected between 7 and 9 percent, according to a draft budget bill discussed by the cabinet's economic commission late on Friday. The announcement comes just days after President Jose Eduardo dos Santos cut Angola's growth estimate for 2013 to 5.1 percent from 7.1 percent due to a long drought, lower-than-expected growth in the oil sector, "bad management" of public debt and a weak global economy.
The government is due to present the budget bill to parliament on October 31. State-owned newspaper Jornal de Angola reported on Saturday that the bill would be discussed again by the cabinet next week and might undergo final changes. Angola, which is Africa's second-biggest oil producer after Nigeria, has posted rapid growth since the end of a 27-year civil war in 2002.
It expects to produce 655 million barrels of crude, or nearly 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd), next year, the cabinet's economic commission also said on late on Friday. Angola's oil minister has said the government seeks to raise crude output to 2 mbpd in 2015. The cabinet said it expects to export oil at an average price of $98 next year. Brent crude closed at $109.94 a barrel on Friday. Angola's central bank has been praised by the World Bank and the IMF and credit rating agencies for curbing inflation, which stood at 8.93 percent year-on-year in September.
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