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Sao Paulo - Angola has withheld $2bn in payments to Brazilian builders, such as Construtora Norberto Odebrecht , underscoring the tumble in oil prices and the recession that have stymied the African nation, Valor Economico newspaper said on Friday.
Angola's international reserves plummeted to $12bn this year from $20bn in 2008 and gross domestic product is expected to shrink about 17% this year after average annual expansion rates of 20% since 2002, the newspaper said, without saying how it obtained the information.
Construction activity in Angola will struggle for another two years, though some relief may come as the price of oil creeps up higher, one source familiar with the situation told Valor.
Oil is Angola's biggest source of government revenue and the main engine of its economy. The International Monetary Fund and Angola are in talks for a stand-by loan, Valor said.
Neither Salvador, Brazil-based Odebrecht nor its Brazilian rivals Andrade Gutierrez, Camargo Correa and Grupo Queiroz Galvao commented on risks of not receiving payment for their services in the African nation, Valor said.
Yet, Valor said that Odebrecht is owed about $1bn, while Camargo Correa is owed about $100m. The newspaper didn't say how it obtained that information.
Payments for builders have been halted for eight months. Exporters and investors in the African country are also facing nonpayment risk, Valor said, citing lawyers who advise Brazilian companies.
- Reuters
