Nigerian Banks’ Foreign Currency Liquidity Still Tight — Fitch Ratings

Nigerian Banks’ Foreign Currency Liquidity Still Tight — Fitch Ratings

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — Cutting reserve requirements will not add liquidity to the Nigerian banking system because it releases no additional foreign currency (FC), says Fitch Ratings. Substantial government-related FC deposits are exempt from reserve requirements and have already been withdrawn from the system after the government ordered all public-sector deposits to be moved from commercial banks into the centralised Treasury Single Account (TSA) earlier this month. Nigeria’s Monetary Committee reduced mandatory…

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Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committe retains Policy Rate at 11.50 percent

Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committe retains Policy Rate at 11.50 percent

Nairobi, Kenya, Capital Market in Africa — At the end of the September 22nd 2015 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the MPC kept the policy rate (Central Bank Rate — CBR) at 11.5 percent, with intention to  keep inflation in control which was trending towards the five percent target. The  benchmark interest rate, was kept unchanged for the third time after it was raised in July by 150 basis points to current level.  The MPC, also…

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Nigerian Banks Resilient but Face Tough Outlook — Fitch Ratings

Nigerian Banks Resilient but Face Tough Outlook — Fitch Ratings

London (Capital Markets in Africa): Nigerian banks are operating in increasingly difficult conditions and this is likely to result in a sharp deterioration in profitability, asset quality, liquidity and capital ratios, says Fitch Ratings. We said the sector outlook was negative in December. GDP figures for 2Q15, released yesterday, show weaker year-on-year growth of 2.4%, down from 4% in the previous quarter, the slowest quarterly growth rate for over 10 years. The volatile operating environment…

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Africa Finance Corporation receives US$50 million from the Islamic Development Bank for project financing

Africa Finance Corporation receives US$50 million from the Islamic Development Bank for project financing

LAGOS, Nigeria (Capital Markets in Africa) — Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is pleased to announce its acceptance of a US$50 million 15 year line of financing, with a 13 year six month repayment period, from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).  The funds will be used to finance projects located across the numerous African IDB member countries.  The projects will be structured in a way that is compliant with Islamic Finance, focusing particularly on infrastructural and agricultural…

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Moody’s changes Egypt’s banking system outlook to stable

Moody’s changes Egypt’s banking system outlook to stable

CAIRO, Egypt (Capital Markets in Africa) — Moody’s Investors Service has today changed the outlook for Egypt’s banking system to stable from negative, reflecting its expectation that banks’ funding and liquidity positions will remain strong amid improving operating conditions over the next 12-18 months. “We expect that Egypt’s banking system will benefit from improved operating conditions, resulting in rising consumer confidence and business investments, which in turn will support loan growth and asset quality”, says…

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Moody’s Assigns First-Time Ratings to Nigeria’s Sterling Bank

Moody’s Assigns First-Time Ratings to Nigeria’s Sterling Bank

LAGOS, Nigeria (Capital Markets in Africa) —- Moody’s Investors Service has today assigned first-time ratings to Sterling Bank plc (Sterling): B2/Not Prime Local and Foreign Currency issuer and deposit ratings, which are underpinned by a b3 Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA). The outlook on all ratings is stable. Moody’s also assigned a Counterparty Risk Assessment (CRA) of B1(cr)/Not Prime(cr). Sterling Bank’s b3 BCA reflects (1) solid asset quality metrics and provision coverage; (2) improvements to the…

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The Lafferty rating rates Nigerian banks ahead US, S/Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada in quality

The Lafferty rating rates Nigerian banks ahead US, S/Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada in quality

Lagos, Nigeria (Capital Markets in Africa) — In terms of their overall quality, Lafferty Bank Ratings reports that Nigerian banks rank well among banks across the world. A cross-border comparison shows that Nigeria ranks about 34.0, higher than South Africa which ranks 30.0, Canada 23.0, United States 20.0, Australia 22.0, and Europe 18.0. Nigerian banks’ financial ratios are particularly good and Michael Lafferty, chairman, Lafferty Group, reckons that the banks’ overall ratings will improve considerably…

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