Ottoniel dos Santos, who serves as Angola's finance-and-Treasury secretary of state, said the government is assessing Panda bonds and sukuk alongside other options and has not decided on timing or size. Speaking in Bangkok during the IMF and World Bank meetings, he summed up the goal: "We want to be able to diversify the source of funding instead of relying each year in the same markets or same investors."
He added that Angola has no plans to sell more international bonds this year. He said Angola is neither in talks with Chinese lenders about lengthening maturities nor about reprofiling current loans, and it has not discussed a new IMF financing program, though it continues to work with the fund on reforms and technical assistance.
Angola has already broadened its base with a Samurai bond in Japan, and it raised $4 billion in eurobonds this year. Of that, $1.2 billion was used for liability-management operations, which reduced repayment strain on debt coming due in 2028 and 2029.
Seeking to broaden the investor base, officials traveled last year to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The government is considering coupling upcoming international bond offerings with additional buybacks or exchanges of debt, extending a strategy in place since 2022. As Dos Santos put it: "When we go back to the market, we probably will be doing the same thing: a little bit of cash for the Treasury, a little bit of liability management."
A decision on whether to opt for bilateral loans, revisit eurobond markets, or use other instruments will be taken once the 2027 budget is complete. There is still no determination on when or how large any Panda bond or sukuk issuance might be.
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Stronger crude prices have trimmed borrowing needs. Angola's oil has averaged $87 per barrel this year against a $61 assumption in the budget, leaving $200 million to $400 million to cover for the rest of 2026.
The growth picture has improved too. The government lifted this year's growth outlook to no less than 5.7% from 4.1%, with the non-oil economy running at 6.7% versus an earlier 3% projection, driven by agriculture, industry and services. Dos Santos said growth next year could stay near this year's level.
Fuel subsidies are being scaled back, with pump prices raised twice this year. Higher global oil prices increase the subsidy bill even as they lift export revenue. There is no timeline for further price changes, and any future increases will come with measures to protect vulnerable consumers.
Angola is spreading its borrowing across more markets while continuing to smooth its repayment profile. Watch for signals tied to the 2027 budget, any Panda or sukuk decision, and any follow-on liability management, all of which can shift supply, pricing and liquidity in Angola's curve and, by extension, frontier debt benchmarks.
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