Pre-MPC Note: Blunted Policy Tools Call for Rollback of Administrative Measures

Pre-MPC Note: Blunted Policy Tools Call for Rollback of Administrative Measures

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Next week Monday and Tuesday (21st and 22nd November), the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN will be holding its 6th and last meeting in 2017 to review major developments in the global and domestic space in order to make vital policy decisions. Since the last MPC meeting held in September, the global risk landscape and policy outlook have changed dramatically, underlined by the emergence of Donald Trump…

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Egypt Central Bank keeps key interest rates unchanged at MPC meeting

Egypt Central Bank keeps key interest rates unchanged at MPC meeting

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged on Thursday in a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee, it said in a statement, two weeks after it surprised markets with a 3 percent hike in its key rates. The bank kept its overnight deposit rate at 14.75 percent and its overnight lending rate at 15.75 percent, it said in a statement, meeting expectations of all 15 respondents in a…

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Regulation | The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book

Regulation | The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The very aptly named Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) is set to go live in 2019 according to the final standards (1) published by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in January this year. The paper calls for the rules to be incorporated into national legislations by January 2019 with banks expected to use FRTB for calculating reported regulatory capital by January 2020. Whilst its main objective…

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African Central Banks Monetary Policy Rates and Foreign Reserves

African Central Banks Monetary Policy Rates and Foreign Reserves

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $7.1 billion to $121.9 billion in the third quarter of 2016 due to lower oil prices that have hit the country’s finances, Central Bank Governor Mohamed Loukal said. Oil and gas earnings, which make up 94 percent of total exports and 60 percent of the state budget, fell to $18.8 billion in the first nine months of 2016, down 26.3 percent from the…

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South Africa’s big four banks to see rise in problem loans – Moody’s

South Africa’s big four banks to see rise in problem loans – Moody’s

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s big four banks will see a rise in problem loans in the next 12 to 18 months as the economy struggles to grow, but this poses only a moderate risk to profits, ratings agency Moody’s said on Tuesday. Sluggish economic growth, forecast by the government to average 0.5 percent this year, will pose challenges for FirstRand, Standard Bank, Barclays Africa Group and Nedbank. “The subdued South African…

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Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe decrees regulations paving way for bond notes

Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe decrees regulations paving way for bond notes

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has side-stepped parliament to issue a decree clearing the way for the introduction of “bond notes” that have raised fears of a return to a domestic currency abandoned in 2009 as hyperinflation crippled the economy. The bond notes are meant to ease biting cash shortages that have gripped the southern African nation since March but have helped fuel anti-government protests in recent months. Mugabe late…

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Uganda central bank cuts main rate to 13 pct, more easing seen

Uganda central bank cuts main rate to 13 pct, more easing seen

KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uganda’s central bank cut its main interest rate on Tuesday to 13 percent from 14 percent to boost growth, and analysts said there was room for another reduction this year. Policymakers in the East African nation began cutting the benchmark rate in April, bringing it back down from the peak of 17 percent reached as the bank battled a surge in prices. Core inflation dipped to 4.8 percent last month…

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