Banking | - Part 98

Troubled Nigerian Loans Seen Spiking Before Economic Rebound

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Access Bank Plc is predicting that the level of troubled loans in Nigeria will continue to climb before an economic recovery in the second half of the year brings relief to the country’s lenders. “Across the entire industry you’ll see an uptick in non-performing loan ratios,” Chief Executive Officer Herbert Wigwe said in an interview on Thursday in Lagos, the commercial hub. “We are better than most.” Nigeria’s fourth-largest bank by assets expects…

South African Bank Stocks Beating Rivals May Find 2017 Tougher

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa was a bright spot for banks on the continent in 2016, with stocks shrugging off the nation’s economic woes to head for the third-best performance in the past decade. Next year the picture may not be as rosy. The nation’s banks index rose 25 percent this year as rate increases boosted lending income, commodities rose and the rand rebounded. In Nigeria, 15 banks fell 33 percent on average and 11…

Moroccan Central Bank keeps benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2,25%

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RABAT (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco’s central bank said on Tuesday economic growth would jump to 4.2 percent next year from an estimated 1.2 percent in 2016 on the back of sharply rising agricultural output. It made the bullish projections as it kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25 percent. Abnormally dry weather across North Africa slashed the cereal harvest last season to 3.35 million tonnes, down 70 percent from the previous record…

Mozambique Says Tight Monetary Policy Is Starting to Bear Fruit

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) -Mozambique’s metical is stabilizing and the inflation rate is forecast to drop after an aggressive rate hike by the central bank in October, according to Governor Rogerio Zandamela. “The most recent information reported in the last quarter of the year is more encouraging,” Zandamela told reporters Monday in the capital, Maputo. “We noted that monetary adjustment has begun to produce the desired effects.” Inflation, which accelerated to 26.8 percent in November,…

Big Banks $70 Billion Short in Fed Push to Prevent Bailouts

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Wall Street banks are about $70 billion short in building up funds the Federal Reserve says they’ll need to tap following a collapse, down by almost half from the central bank’s earlier estimates. The eight biggest U.S. financial firms are required to build cushions of long-term debt that can be transformed into equity in a new company if the old one fails, according to a rule the Fed governors approved Thursday….

Angola’s Access to Dollars Dries Up as Foreign Banks Halt Supply

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – All foreign banks have stopped providing dollar clearing in Angola, which vies with Nigeria as Africa’s largest crude oil producer, according to court papers filed in South Africa by Standard Bank Group Ltd. A single European bank that had been providing the service, which wasn’t identified in the submission, has pulled out of the country, Standard Bank said in the documents, which were submitted to the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday. The…

Mozambique Holds Key Interest Rate as Inflation Seen Peaking

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s central bank held its key lending rate, with inflation expected to peak as the debt-distressed nation’s currency stabilizes. The Monetary Policy Committee kept the benchmark rate at 23.25 percent, Governor Rogerio Zandamela told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Maputo.Banco de Mocambique has raised the monetary policy rate by a total 13.5 percentage points in past meetings this year to try stem spiraling consumer prices in the coal-producing country. Consumer prices have…

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