Banking | - Part 70

StanChart Chairman Says Bank Acts `Decisively’ on Misconduct

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Standard Chartered Plc Chairman Jose Vinals defended the bank’s culture, insisting the emerging markets-focused lender has acted swiftly and “decisively” to root out misconduct. His comments, in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria, come after a number of top executives in charge of policing behaviour at the bank were themselves disciplined or investigated for allegations of harassment or inappropriate conduct, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Vinals said any instances…

Morocco Central Bank Holds Rates, Citing Inflation Prospects

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CASABLANCA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged despite rising inflation that’s prompted a damaging product boycott. The central bank kept the key rate at 2.25 percent, citing medium-term inflation and growth prospects. Last month the general affairs minister said the economy could withstand annual price growth of as much as 3 percent, above the 2.7 percent reached in April that was near a five-year high. Spurred by temporary…

South Africa May Raise Rate If Weak Rand Boosts CPI, SARB Says

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand’s plunge to the weakest in almost seven months against the dollar may push up South African inflation and require interest-rate increases, central bank Deputy Governor Kuben Naidoo said. While the South African Reserve Bank doesn’t target a specific level of the rand, it responds to second-round effects on prices from currency weakness, Naidoo said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Sintra, Portugal, on Tuesday. South African Reserve Bank Deputy Governor…

South Africa’s Rand Pares Gain as Inflation Unexpectedly Slows

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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….

Kenya Rate-Cap Champion Unmoved as Banks Pledge to Boost Lending

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Kenyan lawmaker who spearheaded legislation that placed a limit on the interest rates banks can charge is ready to block efforts from the regulator, Treasury and the industry to scrap the rules. “We have not seen any change in the banks, in fact it’s more of grandstanding: ‘if you remove the caps, we give the loans,’” Jude Njomo said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi, on Monday. “Right now,…

Mozambique Cuts Key Rate as Inflation Lingers Near 2015 Low

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s central bank reduced its benchmark lending rate for the sixth consecutive meeting as inflation lingered near a 2015 low and the regulator tries to spur an economy that’s forecast to expand at the slowest pace in 18 years. The Monetary Policy Committee cut the benchmark interbank rate, known by its Portuguese acronym MIMO and introduced in April 2017, by 75 basis points to 15.75 percent, Banco de Mocambique Governor Rogerio Zandamela told…

Capitec Bids for Business Bank to Veer From Consumer Lending

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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…

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