The Monetary Policy Commission of the National Bank of Angola decided to keep the main benchmark interest rates unchanged in May, including the BNA Rate, which remained at 16% per year, according to the decisions made at the meeting held on 28 April.

The interest rate on the marginal lending facility was kept at 20.00% per year and the seven-day marginal lending facility 7.25%.

The decisions of the Monetary Policy Commission were due to the fact that year-on-year inflation has been falling since the beginning of the year, standing at 37.86% in March against 39.45% a month earlier.

The statement also said that the Angolan central bank in March sold the equivalent of US$2.1929 billion in foreign currency to commercial banks, compared to US$798 million in February.

The average exchange rate of the kwanza against the dollar on the primary foreign exchange remained unchanged at 165.91 kwanzas, the central bank said. (macauhub)