PROFILE-Angola's Finance Minister Carlos Alberto Lopes

Position: Finance Minister of Angola

Incumbent: Carlos Alberto Lopes, 51

Term: Appointed Feb. 2010 for an unlimited period.



Key Facts: Before his appointment as finance minister of sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest economy, Lopes served as deputy planning minister -- a post he held since 2003.

During that period he was partly responsible for setting up the yearly budget plan and took part in annual meetings with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

A trained accountant, Lopes has written several books on Angola's economy. He is also one of the most discreet ministers inside President dos Santos's government. Analysts expect the finance ministry to keep a low profile until Angola pays up to $6.8 billion in late bills to construction firms.

He faces a number of other challenges such as the creation of a new tax regime, introduction of measures to bolster government transparency and the opening of a long-delayed stock market in Luanda.

In a speech to parliament, Lopes said last month Angola's economy would expand by 7.6 percent next year, up from 6.7 percent growth this year, on the back of an expanding non-oil sector.

His estimates are much higher than a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection of 2.5 percent growth for this year, although the U.S. based IMF expects Angola's economy to perform better in 2011 than in the previous year.

(Reporting by Marius Bosch and Henrique Almeida; Editing by Maria Golovnina) (For more Africa cover visit: http://af.reuters.com -- To comment on this story email: [e-mail]) Keywords: ANGOLA FINMIN ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.