Angola has seen a loss of 60,000 jobs in the oil and civil engineering sector over the past year due to the economic crisis triggered by the falling oil prices,  Oil Price reported.

Chairman of the Angolan Industrial Association, Jose Severino, said in an interview that most of the job losses occurred in the civil engineering and oil sectors as state revenues reduced by 50% from June 2015 to May 2016.

The nation’s net foreign exchange reserves dropped to $24.408b in May from $24.774b in April. The drop in oil prices has been a factor in the decrease of dollar inflows to the country, which has led to a shortage of foreign currency. Severino wants the government to enact tighter control over foreign currency reserves and adopt measures to channel more foreign currency into the oil industry.

Severino believes the Angolan economy would improve when international oil prices bounce back, according to Xinhua News. He said: “Oil prices are rising and the economy will be running in a new macro-environment.”