Economy | - Part 41

South Africa Core Inflation Rate Drops to Six-Year Low

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s central bank may return to the interest rate-cutting cycle it started last year as core inflation slowed to the lowest in six years and headline price growth stayed close to the mid-point of the target range in December. The inflation rate rose to 4.7 percent from 4.6 percent the previous month, the Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said on its website Wednesday. That’s in line with the median of 20…

Nigeria May Cut Interest Rates Before July, Emefiele Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank could start cutting interest rates in the first half of the year as inflation eases, Governor Godwin Emefiele said. Once inflation gets to low double digits “and high single digit happens, then it should be easy for MPC to begin to look at easing,” Emefiele said Wednesday in an interview at his office in Abuja, the capital. “I want to think that between the end of the first…

The Economy’s So Rosy, Let’s Talk About Recession

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – We don’t know what will cause it, or when. But it’s coming, and central banks are unprepared. Although the world economy is in its eighth year of expansion, a casual observer might be forgiven for thinking things have just got going. Don’t worry; they will keep going for a while, according to the International Monetary Fund, which released an update to its World Economic Outlook this week. Thank the…

Nigeria’s Political Deadlock Threatens Economic Rebound

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank has fallen victim to a battle between President Muhammadu Buhari and his parliament. The Monetary Policy Committee won’t meet as scheduled this week because it lacks a quorum after the Senate refused to approve Buhari’s nominees for the panel, meaning the central bank couldn’t formally set interest rates. That setback adds to the economic fallout from a longstanding political standoff: lawmakers are threatening to delay his budget for a third year…

OPEC’s Angola Drops Its Currency Further a Week After Ending Peg

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola weakened its currency by 10 percent against the dollar, letting it drop for a second time this month after scrapping a peg in a bid to boost its battered economy. The central bank sold euros on Tuesday at a rate of 248.77 kwanzas per euro, it said in a statement on its website. That was 11 percent weaker than the rate of 221.26 used at the last auction a…

Nigerian Rates Easing Still Some Way Off Even as Inflation Slows

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LAGOS (capital Markets in Africa) – The slowdown in Nigeria inflation to a 20-month low may not be enough to prompt the central bank to start easing just yet. The inflation rate in Africa’s most-populous nation fell to 15.4 percent from 15.9 percent in November, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an emailed report Tuesday. The median estimate of seven economists in a Bloomberg survey was for the rate to remain unchanged. Prices rose 0.6 percent…

A Star Arab Economy Eases Hold on Currency to Lure Investors

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CASABLANCA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco loosened its currency peg in a long-awaited move aimed at strengthening its economy and avoiding financial imbalances that forced a slew of emerging nations into sharp devaluations. Bank al-Maghrib on Monday allowed the dirham to fluctuate 2.5 percent above or below its official rate, significantly widening the band from 0.3 percent each way. The central bank updated the dirham’s band from to 8.9783 to 9.4328 against the dollar as of…

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