Angola| Standard & Poor’s lowers credit rating

The Standard & Poor’s rating agency (S&P) downgraded its credit rating of Angola’s debt in foreign currency from  while maintaining a stable outlook, the agency said in a statement. The cut in Angola’s credit rating was due to the impact felt in the economy from the drop in the price of oil and consequent reduction in tax revenue. S&P expects Angola’s deficit to experience significant deterioration, reaching 5 percent on average, between now and 2017, compared to the forecast announced in August 2014 of a surplus of 1 percent for Angola’s public accounts. “When we looked at Angola in August 2014, we predicted the price of Brent crude oil would stand at USD105 in 2015 and US$100 from 2015 to 2018. We now expect that the price per barrel will be US$55 in 2015 and US$70 between 2015 and 2018, so we have revised forecasts for Angola’s main macroeconomic aggregates,” S&P’s statement said.