From FT

Angola has dramatically slashed its budget for the year and is reaching out to the World Bank and international lenders for at least $1bn in loans as Africa’s second-biggest oil producer and one of the continent’s star economic performers grapples with the fallout from the collapse in crude prices.

Luanda has already approached Goldman Sachs and Gemcorp Capital LLP, a small London-based investment firm set up last year, for loans of $250m from each institution.

Both groups declined to comment. But people familiar with the matter said the approaches by the government were made after José Eduardo dos Santos, the veteran president, issued decrees authorising his administration to seek the loans.

The government is also in talks with the World Bank over a possible $500m soft loan for budgetary support to help narrow its financing gap. It would be the first such loan provided by the bank to Angola.

“The main thing is to provide some short-term support for the sharp reduction in revenue,” Souleymane Coulibaly, the World Bank’s lead economist for Angola, told the Financial Times.

“They are considering their priorities, where to cut, to try to make sure the social element is still protected somehow.

“But the reform programme that will be supported by the budget support is to strengthen fiscal management in the medium term.”

Angola, still rebuilding after a 27-year civil war, has seen strong growth as its oil industry has rapidly expanded and the state has invested heavily in infrastructure.

Read more at FT