Angola’s government debt rose 9.12% in the first half of 2025 compared to December of the previous year, reaching $72 billion, according to data presented on Monday, 20 July, in Luanda.
The half-year balance of the Annual Borrowing Plan (Plano Anual de Endividamento, PAE) was presented at the Museu da Moeda by Dorivaldo Teixeira, director-general of the Public Debt Management Unit (Unidade de Gestão da Dívida Pública, UGD).
“The growth in debt is explained primarily by Eurobond issuances,” Teixeira said, adding that financing is now less concentrated in the short term, which improves the state’s debt profile and is aimed at reducing interest rates. Transport and energy were cited among the sectors absorbing the largest share of financing.
Of the total, external debt accounted for $50.91 billion, maintaining the largest weight in the portfolio, while domestic debt stood at $21.14 billion.
Net borrowing executed during the half-year period amounted to $4.5 billion, exceeding the PAE’s programmed ceiling by 5.2% — a deviation of $228 million. Teixeira played down the overshoot, noting it is expected to be absorbed through amortisations in the second half of the year.
Geopolitical tensions, notably the conflict involving Iran, pushed up crude oil prices — Angola’s primary export commodity — lifting the per-barrel price, though production constraints limited the gains.
Nevertheless, the rise in oil market prices combined with a decline in risk perception benefited Angolan debt in external markets, enabling the government to refinance at more favourable rates than in recent years.
Angola returned to international capital markets in March and issued again in May, raising approximately $4 billion in Eurobonds — $2.5 billion in the first operation and $1.5 billion in the second — said Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury Ottoniel dos Santos, speaking at the opening session of the presentation.
The operations included the early buyback of bonds totalling $1.2 billion, intended to ease the concentration of amortisations falling due in 2028 and 2029, he added.
Of the total debt stock, external debt represented $50.91 billion, maintaining the largest weight in the portfolio, while domestic debt stood at $21.14 billion.
During the half-year period, issuances and disbursements totalled $10.6 billion, while effective amortisations reached $5.9 billion.
Oil-backed debt declined from $7.37 billion at end-2025 to $6.83 billion in June. Ottoniel dos Santos highlighted the development while cautioning that “the sustainability of public finances cannot depend permanently on the performance of a single commodity.”
The Secretary of State nonetheless warned that the weight of debt servicing, high foreign exchange exposure, and volatility in international financing conditions continue to constrain fiscal space, stressing that the work must continue “without triumphalism.”
Source: Diário Económico
