|
Angola Foreign Trade
Until the dramatic fall in world oil prices in 1985 and
1986,
the most dominant feature of the external economy since
independence had been the large increase in oil export
earnings
(see
table 6, Appendix A). By 1985 crude oil exports were
more than
eight times their 1973 level. At the same time, however,
there was
a precipitous drop in other exports, most notably coffee
and
diamonds, leaving Angola almost completely dependent on
oil for
export earnings. In 1988, for example, oil revenue
represented
nearly 90 percent of total export earnings. Nevertheless,
the
strong performance of the oil sector, combined with
stringent
import controls, resulted in continuing trade surpluses,
which by
1985 had risen to US$740 million.
The country's principal trading partners, except for
the Soviet
Union, continued to be Western nations. The United States
has been
the main market for oil and thus the leading importer by
far of
Angolan goods since at least 1980. Angola's other main
Western
markets were Spain, Britain, Brazil, and the Netherlands.
Spain, in
particular, substantially increased its trade with Angola
by
importing a record US$300 million worth of goods in 1985,
ten times
the 1980 level. Angola's principal Western sources of
goods were
the United States, France, and Portugal (suppliers of oil
industry
equipment), but an increasing amount of goods came from
Brazil. The
Soviet Union, because of the large amount of arms it
supplied,
emerged as the major source of imports. Angola has also
developed
close trade ties with Zimbabwe, importing corn for local
consumption and blankets to use as items of barter in
rural
marketing campaigns.
Since 1979 Angola has imported an increasing amount of
foodstuffs from Western nations. In particular, it has
imported
wheat from the European Economic Community (EEC) and
Canada,
increasing from 83,000 tons in 1980 to 205,000 tons the
following
year and dropping to an average of 160,000 tons per year
from 1982
to 1986. Likewise, Angola imported meat (100,000 tons in
1985) and
milk (400,000 tons in 1985) from the West.
Because of the sharp drop in oil prices in 1986,
imports were
severely limited by the government. The government
suspended the
issue of import licenses except when importers obtained
credit
abroad or had their own foreign exchange. Capital goods
imports
were slashed, as were consumer goods, spare parts, and
some
industrial inputs. Military purchases were not cut,
however, nor
were imports of food, pharmaceuticals, goods for rural
marketing
campaigns, and oil industry equipment.
Data as of February 1989
|
