from PEDRO AGOSTO in Luanda, Angola EXACTLY a year after President Joao Lourenço assumed office and promised Angolans a so-called economic miracle, the Southern African’s economy is in dire straits, highlighted through downgrades by international credit rating agencies, downward revisions of growth forecast and plans by government to borrow. Recently, Fitch Solutions forecast Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP) real growth at 1,5 percent, down from 2,8 percent. The rating agency anticipates growth of 2,3 percent for 2019, down from the previous projection of 2,6 percent. The government in August revised the growth forecast to 2,2 percent, compared to 4,9 percent in the previous forecast. According to data by the National Statistics Institute, the Angolan economy has remained in recession at the outset of the year. The government of the former defence minister is to request a loan of $4,5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with talks set to begin October, Finance Minister, Archer Mangueira, confirmed. Angola’s debt is over $33 billion, which represents more than 70 percent of Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP), meaning that technically, it is a heavily indebted poor country. At face value, the malaise is a result of the declining production of oil, a…