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JPMorgan ( JPM ) $1 billion total return swap expires by year-end

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Country hopes to move to monthly publication of debt

statistics

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Officals press for conservative oil price estimate for

2026

budget

By Karin Strohecker and Libby George

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Angola will decide by

November whether to roll over its $1 billion total return swap

deal with JPMorgan ( JPM ), or potentially raise the money on

international capital markets, a senior debt official told

Reuters.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) and Angola agreed in December a $1 billion,

one-year derivative contract known as a total return swap,

backed by $1.9 billion in government dollar bonds, which will

expire at the end of this year.

"We have some options," Dorivaldo Teixeira, General Director

of the Public Debt Management Unit at Angola's finance ministry,

told Reuters on the sidelines of investor meetings in London.

If market conditions were right, Angola could issue debt to

raise the funds, repay partially, or extend the current

arrangement.

"It depends on the cost," he said. While he said the market

conditions for smaller, riskier issuers were improving, with

yields "going in the right direction", he noted that the

JPMorgan ( JPM ) facility cost was lower than the country's Eurobonds

and "if I can extend it, probably I will use it."

CONTAINING THE COSTS

The yield on Angola's international bonds currently stands

at roughly 10%, according to JPMorgan EMBI data.

Still, he said Angola would push for a better deal than the

current 9% it was paying on the arrangement, whether that was

from the bank or from markets. The full terms of the total

return swap have never been published.

The deal grabbed headlines in April, when Angola had to pay $200

million to JPMorgan ( JPM ) as additional security for its

collateralised bond in a margin call after U.S. tariff turmoil

pushed oil prices - and Angola's bonds - sharply lower.

In November, the country also has to pay back just over $860

million it has outstanding on a dollar-denominated bond it sold

in 2015.

Finance officials are also working to increase transparency

by publishing debt statistics more regularly, Teixeira said. The

finance ministry has started issuing its debt bulletin

quarterly, and it is aiming to publish monthly starting next

year, while ensuring key information and statistics are

available in English as well as Portuguese.

"The perception of risk of Angola was heightened a little

bit because we didn't communicate as much. People need more

information about what's going on," Teixeira said in an

interview late on Thursday, adding he hoped this would help

lower Angola's borrowing costs.

CAUTIOUS ON CRUDE

Teixeira said finance officials are pressing for a more

conservative oil price assumption in the 2026 budget after the

government had to stress-test its 2025 spending due to a drop in

prices below their $70 per barrel assumption.

Brent crude is trading at $67, and Teixeira said the final

budget deficit figures could be higher than expected due to the

fall in revenue.

"One of the lessons that we learned from this, from this

process, is probably next year, we should take a little bit more

conservative approach that will help us to execute the budget in

the most seamless way."

Teixeira declined to peg a specific price but said officials

base their assumptions on top analyst forecasts.

A Reuters poll showed most analysts expect prices to drift down

next year, with Brent forecast at $62.98 in the second quarter

of 2026.