Angola May Delay Paying Wages Due to Debt Repayments
Angola warned that it may delay paying state workers’ wages for a second consecutive month due to a funding gap caused by mismatched revenue collection and expenditure, Angop reported, citing Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa.
The southwest African nation’s financial situation is strained by ongoing “debt pressures” that are higher in some months, limiting its ability to build a financial safety net, De Sousa said. Most of the country’s revenue is used to service debt, with payments “automatically” debited from state accounts as soon as funds are received, and little is left to meet other obligations, she said.
The nation resumed debt payments to China, its biggest creditor in 2023, after a three-year moratorium. It owes Chinese creditors about $17 billion.
The oil-producing African nation spends 300 billion kwanza ($332 million) a month on salaries, according to De Sousa. The government has about 700,000 employees.
Fixing structural issues to improve economic growth and implementing short-term measures to cover the gap could resolve the problem, the finance minister said, without providing more details.
“This will allow us to manage our financial commitments more smoothly and minimize constraints on citizens,” she said.
