The Banco Nacional de Angola raised the minimum capital requirement for local commercial banks to 7.5 billion Angolan kwanzas from 2.5 billion kwanzas, Macauhub reported.
The Angolan central bank said in a circular that lenders who fail to meet the threshold by Dec. 31 must "consider alternatives, including mergers" with peers. Lenders must submit plans on how they intend to raise capital to comply with the new capital requirement to the central bank within 120 days, according to the March 2 report.
Lenders may increase capital through the issuance of new shares or the incorporation of their legal reserves into their share capital, the central bank noted.
As of March 2, US$1 was equivalent to 215.12 Angolan kwanzas.
