Economy | - Part 35

Ivory Coast outlooks is robust amid strong growth and low inflation

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund indicated that Côte d’Ivoire’s medium-term outlook is robust amid strong economic activity and low inflation. As such, it projected real GDP growth at 7.4% in 2018 and 7% in 2019 compared to 7.8% in 2017. Also, it forecast the average inflation rate at 1.7% this year and 2% next year relative to 0.8% last year. Further, it welcomed the authorities’ sound macroeconomic policy management despite the domestic shocks and unfavourable…

South Africa Inflation Eases; Food Costs Up Least Since 2013

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s inflation rate fell in May as food prices rose at the slowest pace since 2013, reducing chances that the central bank will increase interest rates later this year. Consumer prices climbed 4.4 percent from a year earlier compared with 4.5 percent in April, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Wednesday in a report on its website. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was 4.6 percent. Prices of food and…

Nigeria and Angola’s dependence on oil and gas creates challenges

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Although Nigeria (B2 stable) and Angola’s (B3 stable) economies, external positions and public finances are expected to stabilise, their continued dependence on oil and gas means they will both face a range of challenges in the coming years, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report today. For Angola, the key issue will be managing its liquidity pressures and higher debt burden alongside further currency devaluation. For Nigeria, it will…

Sub-Saharan Africa growth outlook subject to external and domestic risks

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Bank projected economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to accelerate from 2.6% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018, relative to a previous forecast of 3.2% for 2018, supported by higher oil and metals production and prices, improved agricultural activity, increasing domestic demand, supportive external financial market conditions, as well as a pick-up in investment. It expected growth in the SSA region to average 3.6% annually during the 2019-20 period on the…

Mauritania’s Growth Prospects Dependent on Reforms – IMF Says

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MAURITANIA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund indicated that Mauritania’s economy has been recovering, as real GDP growth accelerated from 1.8% in 2016 to 3.5% in 2017 due to improved terms of trade and strong activity in the agriculture, manufacturing, transport and telecommunications sectors. But it projected growth to slow down slightly to 3% in 2018, as a result of the delayed impact of last year’s drought on the agriculture industry. The IMF, also considered the …

Higher Uganda Budget Gap to Dent 2018-19 Fiscal Plan, IMF Says

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uganda’s policy of keeping debt at “safe levels” will be “challenging” in the coming fiscal year because of a higher-than-envisaged budget deficit, the International Monetary Fund said. East Africa’s third-biggest economy will need to “scrutinize very carefully new borrowing initiatives” in the 12 months through June next year in the wake of an expanded deficit, Clara Mira, the IMF resident representative in Uganda, said in a text message. Prudent borrowing will help…

IMF Sees `Prominent’ Downside Risks to South Africa’s Outlook

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Downside risks to South Africa’s economic outlook are “prominent,” with spending pressures and a higher public-wage bill potentially raising financing costs and damping growth, the International Monetary Fund said. “Fiscal consolidation is needed to strengthen public finances,” the Washington-based lender said in an emailed statement Tuesday after concluding a visit to the nation with the continent’s most-industrialized economy. While steps announced in the February budget are a move in the right…

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