Luanda - Oil-rich Angola will post a budget deficit this year for the first time in five years, the IMF said Wednesday, citing a dramatic fall in oil production.
The Washington-based lender said Luanda would post a 4.0 percent deficit for 2014 and predicted the country's growth would slow to 3.9 percent, down from 6.8 percent in 2013.
“The overall fiscal balance, which was in surplus in the last four years, is expected to deteriorate substantially in 2014,” the IMF said.
It pointed to a 14 percent drop in oil revenues, thanks to unscheduled repair work at some oil fields.
Angola is sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria and its third-largest economy.
The IMF urged to government to invest oil revenues in developing infrastructure and measures to reduce rampant poverty and inequality. - Sapa-AFP