A fall in oil prices brought Angola to its knees two years ago. A deal with the IMF has helped the economy to stabilise and signs of growth can be seen in Luanda, but to avoid a repeat of such economic hardship, more structural reforms are needed to make the country attractive for business.
The tenacious Portugese banks have prided themselves in their ability to stick with the Angolan economy in good and bad years, but they are now facing increasing competition from foreign banks, which stress their international network credentials.
Malta's domestic banking sector is small and follows traditional principles, yet a steadily growing international banking presence is capitalising on interesting new opportunities such as those presented by the island’s emerging fund management and insurance industries.
Massive capital flows into Asia led many Asian countries to introduce capital controls and other mechanisms in a bid to stem flows and limit rising currency valuations. However, rising inflation and talk of interest rate rises have raised fears about slowing growth, leading to money flowing the other way.