Angola Plans to Continue Wealth Fund After $2 Billion Withdrawal

(Bloomberg) -- Angola's sovereign wealth fund may have to continue running with fewer funds than its initial $5 billion capital after the southern African nation withdrew $2 billion to invest in infrastructure projects, President Joao Lourenco said.

“The majority of countries that have sovereign wealth funds started with less funds than we did,” President Joao Lourenco said in an interview with broadcaster Televisao Publica de Angola on June 28. “We can very well have a fund with less than $5 billion in value.”

On June 27, the country said it would use $2 billion from the fund to build or finish infrastructure projects including classrooms, medical equipment and road improvements. Taking $2 billion from the fund, known as Fundo Soberano de Angola, “will not finish” it, Lourenco said. The country doesn't have any other options to to fund the infrastructure investments without incurring further debt, the president said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Candido Mendes in Luanda at cmendes6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at areed12@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline Mackenzie

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