Angola has had its ability to pay for imports seriously retarded by the slide in oil prices – with oil accounting for some 95% of the country’s foreign exchange income.
The problems have been revealed by the latest export figures released by the Office for Statistics and Studies of the Portuguese Economy Ministry.
Portuguese companies sold Euro1.074 billion less in exports to Angola in 2015, it reported.
This was a serious drop on the results for 2014, when Angola was the 4th largest destination for Portuguese exports, buying goods worth E3.2bn.
The ministry attributed the drop in Angolan imports to the oil crisis and consequent currency devaluation. It has seen Angola falling to sixth place in its list of export destinations.
The Portuguese financial newspaper Diário Económico also quoted figures from the National Statistics Institute showing that Portuguese exports to Angola had fallen by 45% year on year in January 2016.
