Economy | - Part 56

South Africa Posts Its Biggest Trade Surplus in Seven Months

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa recorded its biggest trade surplus in seven months in December, narrowing the shortfall for the year and supporting the rand. The 12 billion-rand ($890 million) surplus compares with a revised 1.7 billion-rand shortfall in November, after imports of chemicals and base metals dropped, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. The cumulative deficit for last year was 2.9 billion rand compared with 52.2 billion…

Zambia IMF Talks Seen Shielding Country Amid Trump Risks

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LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia is asking the International Monetary Fund for March talks over a program that could help buffer it from uncertainties relating to U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies and rising rates in that country that will lift borrowing costs for frontier markets, NKC African Economics said. Formal agreement to a technical and financial support package would also help Zambia rein in a ballooning budget deficit that’s pushed up debt, said Irmgard…

Economic Recovery in Nigeria Hobbled by Oil, Currency Policy

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Nigeria’s economy may struggle to rebound from its worst slump in 25 years unless President Muhammadu Buhari can end an armed conflict in the nation’s oil-producing region and fix a currency policy that’s blocked investment. Pipeline attacks in the Niger River delta cut oil production by a third last year, slashing government revenue, while central bank intervention and trading restrictions that prop up the value of the naira have stymied trade and…

Fitch Revises Nigeria’s Outlook to Negative; Affirms at ‘B+’

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Nigeria’s Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at ‘B+’. The issue ratings on Nigeria’s senior unsecured foreign currency bonds have also been affirmed at ‘B+’. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘B+’ and the Short-Term Foreign and Local Currency IDRs have been affirmed at ‘B’. Key Rating Drivers The revision…

S&P says South Africa needs to deliver growth, fiscal improvements

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s sovereign credit rating could come under pressure if the country’s economic growth and fiscal performance do not improve, the head of the sub-Saharan region of S&P Global Ratings said on Wednesday. “We have certain expectations with regard to GDP growth and certain expectations with regard to fiscal improvements. If there is no delivery in this regard, that could certainly put pressure on the rating,” Konrad Reuss told…

IMF Sees Bigger Ghana 2016 Deficit Target Slippage Than Forecast

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana will miss its budget-deficit target for 2016 by a bigger margin than the government’s forecast due to weak revenue collection and higher-than-planned capital spending, according to the International Monetary Fund. West Africa’s second-biggest economy will probably miss the Washington-based lender’s budget-deficit forecast of 5.2 percent of gross domestic product by 2 to 3 percentage points, the IMF said in an e-mailed response to questions. Last month, former Finance Minister Seth Terkper said…

Sub-Saharan Africa 2017 Growth to accelerate by 2.9 Percent, World Bank Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have decelerated to 1.5 percent in 2016, the lowest level in over two decades, as commodity exporters adjust to low commodity prices. Regional GDP per capita contracted by 1.1 percent. South Africa and oil exporters account for most of the slowdown, while activity in non-resource intensive countries—agricultural exporters and commodity importers—generally remained robust. Commodity prices are expected to stabilize, but stay well…

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