The Spanish government has agreed to provide a credit of some 500 million Euros (725 million U.S. dollars) to Angola to encourage more trade with the oil-rich African country, Angola's official news agency Angop reported on Thursday.
The loan was announced by visiting Spanish secretary of State for Commerce Silvia Iranzo Gutierrez after meeting with Angolan officials,
including Minister of Finance Severim de Morais, Minister of Economy Manuel Junior, and Chairman of the National Private Investment Agency Aguinaldo
Jaime.
Silvia Iranzo Gutierrez said the new credit, which will be largely used to finance Angola's imports from Spain, was expected to deepen relations between the two countries, particularly in the fields of trade and economic cooperation.
The Spanish official arrived in Luanda on Wednesday for a two-day visit.
Bilateral trade between Spain and Angola amounted to some 2.3 billion Euros (3.34 billion dollars) in 2008, Ago said, though some independent estimates put the volume at some 1.1 billion U.S. dollars.
Angola meets about four percent of the oil needs in Spain, which in turn exports machines, motor vehicles and other goods to the African
country.