Angolan President Joao Lourenco has formally requested that the IMF commence negotiations over a package of reforms and bailout funding for Africa’s second-biggest oil exporter. The request is believed to be for an IMF facility to provide emergency funding with extended maturation dates, and not a full rescue of Angola’s public finances.

The IMF loan would help encourage other potential lenders, and it would provide President Lourenco with political cover to implement reforms to diversify the Angolan economy and chip away at the state-owned oil monopoly.

The move comes after a difficult few years for Angola’s oil-dependent economy. The country was hit hard by the post-2014 plunge in oil prices, and total oil output has been trending down owing to a lack of foreign investment. Angola’s average daily output is expected to fall to 1.5 million barrels per day in 2018, down from 1.9 million in 2008.

Foreign reserves in the sub-Saharan country hit $12.8 billion earlier this year, down considerably from their peak of $34 billion in 2013. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the Angolan government ran a deficit of around 6.9% of GDP in 2017. The deficit has narrowed slightly over the course of 2018 and is expected to be around 5.9% GDP.