The Angolan Central Bank (“Banco Nacional de Angola”) recently issued Instruction No. 04/19, of 26 April 2019, which provides certain guidelines to be followed by Banking Financial Institutions regarding the granting of credit, notably in respect of credit conditions and credit risk assessment.
 
Among other specific conditions established for loan agreements, the Instruction provides that such agreements may not exceed a thirty-year term, in the case of mortgages, and a five-year term for personal loans. As for loans where property is used as collateral, the Instruction determines that Banking Financial Institutions must apply certain “loan-to-value” criteria, under which the amount of the credit being granted and the property’s value may not exceed ratios that vary between 90% and 100%, depending on the purpose and the nature of the property and/or loan. The instruction further establishes that, in the case of individual clients, and bearing in mind the accrued amount of all the monthly instalments due by such clients, the effort rate should not exceed 40% of their net income.   

On the other hand, the Instruction requires Banks to implement certain mechanisms to evaluate their clients’ solvency and provides the relevant assessment criteria for both individual and corporate clients.    
 
Instruction No. 04/19 will enter into force on 26 May 2019.