Bank of Mauritius keeps the Key Repo Rate unchanged at 4%

Bank of Mauritius keeps the Key Repo Rate unchanged at 4%

PORT LOUIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Mauritius unanimously decided to keep the Key Repo Rate unchanged at 4.00 per cent per annum at its meeting today. Growth in major advanced economies is likely to strengthen in 2017. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook Update released in January 2017 projects world growth to increase from 3.1 per cent in 2016 to 3.4 per cent in 2017 and…

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Central Bank of Nigeria boosts key industries with $2.83 bln for economic recovery

Central Bank of Nigeria boosts key industries with $2.83 bln for economic recovery

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank has disbursed $2.83 billion to critical sectors of the economy in December and January, it said in a statement on Thursday, in an attempt to kick-start a struggling economy and alleviate a drought of foreign currency. Nigeria’s economy is wallowing in its first recession in a quarter of a century, hamstrung in part by low exports of the crude oil on which the government depends for…

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Egyptian Central Bank Retains Benchmark Interest at 15.25%

Egyptian Central Bank Retains Benchmark Interest at 15.25%

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s central bank left its key interest rates unchanged on Thursday at a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee, the bank said in a statement, the third consecutive meeting where it kept rates on hold. The bank kept its overnight deposit rate at 14.75 percent and its overnight lending rate at 15.75 percent. The decision comes after Egypt’s core inflation rate soared in January to 30.86 percent, its highest…

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Bank of Uganda Slashes Benchmark Rate amid shrinking growth

Bank of Uganda Slashes Benchmark Rate amid shrinking growth

KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Bank of Uganda on Wednesday lowered the central bank rate by 50 basis points from 12 percent, set in December 2016, to 11.5 percent. The cut was necessary to “support economic activity”, according to the Monetary Policy Statement for February 2017. It is the sixth consecutive cut since the central bank started easing the policy rate in April 2016. “A further cautious easing of monetary policy is warranted to…

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Namibia Central Bank Leaves Benchmark Rate Unchanged at 7%

Namibia Central Bank Leaves Benchmark Rate Unchanged at 7%

Windhoek (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Namibia kept the Repo rate unchanged at 7.00 percent. This rate remains appropriate to maintain the one-to-one link between the Namibia Dollar and the South African Rand, while supporting economic growth in Namibia. The Namibia economic growth is estimated to have slowed in 2016, compared to the previous year. The slowdown is mainly attributed to the contraction in the construction…

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Kenya Warns ‘Trump Effect’ Poses Threat to Its Economy

Kenya Warns ‘Trump Effect’ Poses Threat to Its Economy

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uncertainty surrounding U.S. policies on trade and immigration poses a major external threat to East Africa’s biggest economy, Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said. The lack of predictability on policy is stoking fears of abrupt changes that may affect trade between the U.S. and Kenya, some of which may end up eroding sources of foreign currency, Njoroge told reporters Tuesday in Nairobi, the capital. While Kenya has sufficient buffers,…

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Nigeria Central Bank Hits Out at ‘Unpatriotic’ Policy Critics

Nigeria Central Bank Hits Out at ‘Unpatriotic’ Policy Critics

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank lashed out at critics of its efforts to prop up the naira and said that weakening the currency would only harm poor people. “Intelligence reports at the disposal of the bank reveal the involvement of some unpatriotic elements funding the push to have the Central Bank of Nigeria and the federal government reverse its foreign-exchange policy,” Isaac Okorafor, a spokesman, said in a statement on the Abuja-based central…

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