Banking

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s rand pared an advance against the dollar and benchmark bond yields extended a drop as traders cut bets on an interest-rate increase this year after inflation unexpectedly slowed last month. Growth in the consumer price index eased to 4.4 percent in May, from 4.5 percent the previous month. The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey was for the inflation rate to accelerate to 4.6 percent….

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. is switching gears from the focus on consumer lending that made it South Africa’s fastest-growing financial institution by bidding for the domestic business-banking unit of Caixa Geral de Depositos SA. The lender is among four acquirers short-listed for CGD’s Mercantile Bank. Nedbank Group Ltd., a group of investors consisting of Bayport Financial Services Pty Ltd. and Public Investment Corp., as well as a rival consortium comprising…

WINDHOEK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Namibia’s central bank left its benchmark rate unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting as it seeks to safeguard the country’s reserves and maintain its currency’s peg with the South African rand. The southwest African nation’s Monetary Policy Committee maintained its key interest rate at 6.75 percent Wednesday, Governor Ipumbu Shiimi told reporters in the capital, Windhoek. That’s the lowest since February 2016. Last month, its counterpart in South Africa kept its key gauge…