Commenting to Lusa on the new adjustment in the price of diesel, whose litre now costs 300 kwanzas as of this Monday, compared to the previous 200 kwanzas, the specialist said that the production costs of companies that still work with generators will be reflected in the final cost of the product.
"It is clear that the increase [in the price of diesel] will have an impact on their costs and they [companies] will be able to reflect these costs in the prices of goods and services they place on the market, this could have an impact on the general price level, on inflation which remains high," he said.
The increase could break the downward trend of inflation in the country, "because what matters is not just the impact on costs, but people's expectations, the expected inflation tends to increase", he highlighted.
Francisco Paulo, a macroeconomics expert, also argued that the government should better manage this adjustment, noting that authorities "take a long time" to adjust, an exercise he considers negative for economic activity.
On the other hand, "the warning time is very short", he argued, advocating better programming to warn and prepare economic agents.
A liter of diesel in the country started this Monday to cost 300 kwanzas, an increase of 50 percent, according to the new prices released by the Petroleum Derivatives Regulatory Institute (IRDP).
The increase in the price of diesel, which now costs the same as gasoline, is part of the gradual and flexible adjustment of retail prices of petroleum-based products to market levels.
Fuels in the country are subsidized by the State, which took the political decision to gradually withdraw this subsidy, following the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has been happening since 2023.
The economist and researcher at the Catholic University of Angola (UCAN) highlighted, on the other hand, the importance of removing state subsidies on fuels in Angola, believing that the process should stop fuel smuggling, a phenomenon that is a concern for the authorities.
"If we can make them pay market prices [by reducing state subsidies], the country will be able to better deal with fuel smuggling, which only exists because the price in the country is regulated and is very low compared to neighboring countries," he stressed.
Francisco Paulo also argued that the process of removing fuel subsidies must be accompanied by programs that help improve the income of the most vulnerable families.
