20100913
africanews

LUANDA (Reuters) - Higher exports and oil prices have helped Angola's economy recover in 2010, while companies are spending more now that the government has started to pay off some of its debt, the deputy governor of the country's central bank said on Monday.

Ricardo Abreu also said during a conference in Luanda that higher oil prices had helped increase the central bank's foreign exchange reserves to $15.8 billion in August, from $15.3 billion a month earlier.

The increase in reserves was helping to stabilise the local currency, the kwanza, he added.

"The government began paying its bills to construction companies in July and August and today we feel more comfortable with the economy," Abreu said.

"We have also seen an increase in spending from companies in Angola."

The southern African nation said last month it had paid nearly $1.3 billion, or almost 20 percent, of a government estimated $6.8 billion in overdue bills to local and foreign builders, as it tries to restore credibility among international investors.

The bills began to pile up in 2008 after a sharp drop in oil prices hit the nation's coffers. Angola, which ended a civil war in 2002, has come to rival Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer.

After years of double-digit economic growth Angola's economy is expected to grow 6.7 percent in 2010, up from 2.4 percent a year earlier.