Zambia and Angola announce rate cuts, boosting the construction industry

GlobalData

Wed, May 20, 2026 astatine 10:33 AM CDT 5 min read

In mid-May 2026, Zambia and Angola some announced involvement complaint cuts to enactment economical growth, amended borrowing conditions, and promote concern activity. Zambia lowered its benchmark involvement complaint by 25 ground points to 13.25% successful May 2026 aft easing inflation, currency stability, and expectations of a stronger maize harvest boosted assurance successful the economy. Angola has besides shifted toward looser monetary argumentation to stimulate concern enactment and enactment home growth, with some countries aiming to fortify economical momentum and amended financing conditions for industries and infrastructure development.

Zambia has continued easing monetary argumentation to enactment growth, with the Bank of Zambia reducing its benchmark involvement complaint to 13.25% successful May 2026 from 13.5%, pursuing an earlier 75-basis-point chopped from 14.25% to 13.5% successful February 2026. The determination was driven by sharply slowing inflation, a stronger kwacha, and expectations of a bumper maize harvest from the 2024/2025 farming season, which helped little nutrient prices and amended economical confidence. Annual ostentation has slowed for 4 months successful a enactment and stood ‌at ⁠6.8% successful April 2026, down from 7.1% the erstwhile period and wrong the bank's 6%-8% people range, with the Bank of Zambia present expecting ostentation to determination into its 6%–8% people scope faster than antecedently forecast. The easing rhythm is expected to trim borrowing costs for businesses and households, promote lending, boost investment, and enactment concern and infrastructure enactment crossed the country. Policymakers besides revealed favourable upwind conditions, stronger copper prices, and improving macroeconomic stableness arsenic cardinal affirmative drivers for Zambia’s economy, portion little involvement rates are expected to fortify user spending, concern expansion, and wide economical recovery.

Zambia: involvement complaint and ostentation complaint trends

Angola’s National Bank (BNA) chopped its cardinal involvement complaint by 50 ground points to 17% during its May 2026 monetary argumentation meeting, marking different measurement successful its easing rhythm arsenic ostentation continues to dilatory crossed the country, contempt the ongoing Iran warfare and rising planetary uncertainty. This was followed by an involvement complaint of 17.50% successful April 2026 and March 2026. Angola’s yearly ostentation complaint fell to 11.58% successful April from 12.42% successful March, the lowest level since June 2023, continuing a disinflation inclination that began successful mid-2024.

The cardinal slope revealed the determination was aimed astatine supporting economical activity, improving borrowing conditions, and encouraging concern portion maintaining macroeconomic stability. Earlier successful January 2026, the BNA had already reduced rates by 100 ground points to 17.5%, pursuing erstwhile cuts from 19.5% successful August 2025 and 18.5% successful November 2025, reflecting stronger assurance successful the system and easing terms pressures. The Monetary Policy Committee has revised its ostentation complaint projection downward to 11.5% for 2026, portion maintaining its GDP maturation forecast astatine 3.5%, supported by exchange-rate stability, improving liquidity conditions, and little ostentation expectations. The continued complaint cuts are expected to stimulate concern activity, enactment infrastructure and concern investment, and amended financing conditions crossed cardinal sectors of the economy, adjacent arsenic planetary geopolitical tensions stay elevated.