LUANDA (Reuters) - Banks in Angola are doing well, the central bank governor was reported as saying on Monday, despite criticism from local institutions that recent central bank measures are hurting the financial system. Banco Nacional de Angola doubled the bank reserve requirement to 30 percent this year and has imposed sharp limits on the amount of U.S. dollars it sells at daily auctions, leaving banks with less money available to loan to clients. Angola, which rivals Nigeria as Africa's top oil producer, has lost 30 percent of its foreign exchange reserves since the start of the year due to a sharp drop in revenues. Foreign reserves stood at $12.2 billion in May. "Under the current conditions and taking into account the big impact of the economic crisis on oil prices and on our fiscal revenues, the performance of the banking system has until now been exemplary," Angop news agency quoted central bank Governor Abraao Gourgel as saying. "I think the financial situation of banks is, at all levels, encouraging." The Association of Angolan Banks said in May a higher bank reserve requirement was reducing liquidity in the sector and could deepen the impact of the global economic crisis. Limits on the sale of dollars by the central bank has also left institutions struggling to provide companies in Angola with money for imports. The local kwanza currency cannot be traded outside the African nation's borders. The central banks says the measures are aimed at controlling inflation and stopping the kwanza -- which has lost 4 percent of its value officially and almost 20 percent on the black market -- from devaluing further. | 
