Policy monitor: Banco Nacional de Angola takes its rate to 17.5% as the easing cycle advances

The Banco Nacional de Angola's benchmark policy rate stands at 17.5%, following a cut of 100 basis points at its most recent adjustment. This briefing sets out the data behind the stance, drawn from CBAN's Angola dataset.

Headline consumer price inflation is running at 14% year on year in the latest reading tracked by CBAN, down from 15% in the prior reading. That puts the real policy rate — the benchmark rate minus headline inflation — at roughly 3.5 percentage points, a restrictive setting by historical standards.

On the currency side, the Angolan kwanza trades near 912 per US dollar, down 3.7% since the start of the year. Gross official reserves stand at roughly $14.7 billion. Exchange-rate pass-through into consumer prices is one of the strongest inflation channels in most African economies, which is why these two indicators move together in policy deliberations.

The BNA's statutory mandate: Ensure the preservation of the value of the national currency and participate in the definition of monetary and exchange-rate policy.

The wider economy is growing at around 2.8% a year on the estimates CBAN tracks, with nominal output of about $92 billion. Growth, inflation and the exchange rate form the three-way trade-off every Monetary Policy Committee weighs.

The next scheduled monetary policy decision is 21 September 2026. CBAN tracks every African MPC date in the economic calendar, and this briefing is refreshed as new official data is released.