Angola slashes crude price to $40, trims budget

Angola’s cabinet has asked parliament to revise down the oil price assumption in the 2015 budget to $40 per barrel from its earlier projection of $81 per barrel, due to tumbling crude prices, the finance ministry said.

The oil price assumption cut would slash $14 billion from the budget, said a statement by the finance ministry seen by Reuters on Monday.

The national assembly has until the end of next month to approve the changes, the ministry said.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said in a public address to the nation on Dec. 29 that 2015 would be “difficult economically” and some public spending would have to be cut, including on fuel subsidies and infrastructure projects.

Africa’s biggest oil producer after Nigeria relies on oil for half its gross domestic product and 90 percent of its foreign exchange. The local kwanza currency has hit a string of record lows against the dollar in the last six months.

Nigeria is yet to revise its price assumption of $65 for a barrel of crude.