Economy | - Part 39

IMF Denies Asking Zambia for Independent Audit of Its Debt

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund denied asking the Zambian government to undertake an independent audit of its foreign debt. The Washington-based lender also didn’t release any estimate of Zambia’s debt to donors, resident representative Alfredo Baldini said Monday in an emailed response to questions. Nomura International Plc economist Peter Attard Montalto said in a March 27 note the IMF had requested that Zambia’s government undertakes an independent audit of its foreign debt….

Rand Bears Keep Rushing for the Exits Even as Rate Cut Looms

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economists are predicting a South African rate cut on Wednesday. The market’s pricing in another later this year. Rand traders, it seems, couldn’t care less. Bearish bets on South Africa’s currency versus the dollar fell to the lowest level this week since before the 2008 financial crisis, even with the South African Reserve Bank poised to loosen policy while the Federal Reserve tightens, narrowing the rand’s yield advantage over the greenback. A glance…

Kenya Plans to Rebase Economy, Reconstitute Inflation Basket

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s statistics agency plans to revise the size of the East African economy and reconstitute its inflation basket after a survey of household incomes showed poverty levels fell in the past decade. It’ll be the second rebasing of statistics used in calculating gross domestic product since 2014, when the nation increased the size of its economy by a quarter to $55.2 billion. Annual output is now estimated at about…

South Africa Inflation Dips Deeper Below Midpoint of Target Band

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s inflation rate fell further below the midpoint of the target range in February, giving the central bank another reason to consider easing monetary policy next week. Inflation slowed to 4 percent, the lowest level in almost three years, from 4.4 percent in January, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in a report on its website. The median estimate of 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey was 4.1 percent. Prices rose…

Egypt Inflation Enters Post-Float Target Range for First Time

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TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Inflation in urban parts of Egypt slowed to a 17-month low, for the first time entering a broad target range the central bank set after floating the currency in November 2016. The annual rate eased to 14.4 percent in February, from 17.1 percent a month earlier, the state-run statistics agency said. As prices soared following the decision to lift currency controls, the central bank had announced a target of…

Some of South Africa’s Economic Rebound Started Under Zuma

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is credited with boosting confidence in the economy, but some of that rebound started under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. The economy expanded 1.3 percent last year, exceeding the National Treasury’s forecast. The annualized growth in the three months through December was the most since the second quarter of 2016 and fixed capital formation expanded after three quarters of contraction. This “suggests that confidence was returning…

Nigeria’s Sticky Inflation Threatens to Curb Rate-Cut Hopes

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s long-awaited interest rate-cutting cycle risks being short-lived, if it starts at all. Governor Godwin Emefiele said last month the Central Bank of Nigeria may reduce its benchmark from a record-high 14 percent before July if inflation drops closer to single digits. But with fuel costs surging and government spending swelling before next year’s election, he may struggle to reach that threshold at a time when the pace of price growth is still…

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