Nigeria | Decade’s Peak Inflation Deepens Dilemma for Nigeria in Slump

Nigeria | Decade’s Peak Inflation Deepens Dilemma for Nigeria in Slump

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Caught between the highest inflation rate in more than a decade and an economy set to contract for the first time since 1991, Nigeria’s central bank may opt to do nothing. Governor Godwin Emefiele is under pressure to limit inflation, which accelerated to almost double the upper end of the central bank’s target range last month, while the economy will probably contract by 1.8 percent this year, according to the International Monetary…

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Fitch: Global Sovereign Rating Changes From Criteria Update

Fitch: Global Sovereign Rating Changes From Criteria Update

LONDON, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings published on Friday 22 July a review of its entire sovereign rating portfolio, incorporating changes to ratings derived from the application of its revised Sovereign Rating Criteria (dated 18 July 2016). The review focused on the notching relationship between sovereign Long-Term Local Currency (LTLC) and Long-Term Foreign Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), a review of existing Short-Term Foreign Currency (STFC) IDRs and the assignment of new Short-Term…

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IMF Says Nigeria’s Economy May Contract by 1.8% in 2016

IMF Says Nigeria’s Economy May Contract by 1.8% in 2016

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Africa’s largest economy will probably contract by 1.8 percent this year and curb growth in the entire region, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based lender cut its 2016 growth forecast for Nigeria from 2.3 percent projected in April, according to its World Economic Outlook update released on Tuesday. The projection for next year was reduced to 1.1 percent from 3.5 percent. The Nigerian economy will contract for the first…

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IMF Says Brexit Will Drag Down World Economic Growth

IMF Says Brexit Will Drag Down World Economic Growth

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will reduce global economic growth this year and next, the International Monetary Fund says. The IMF said Tuesday that it is shaving its estimate for worldwide growth to 3.1 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2017. Both estimates are 0.1 percentage points lower than the bank’s previous forecast in April. IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said the bank was prepared “as…

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South Africa GDP Growth Too Slow to Improve Conditions, IMF Says

South Africa GDP Growth Too Slow to Improve Conditions, IMF Says

South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Economic growth in South Africa is too slow to improve living standards in a country where a third of the population is excluded from the economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. “The cost of insufficient action has reached the critical point,” the lender’s First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton said in a speech in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “What is needed is a fresh and energetic review of South Africa’s policies, followed by…

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Ghana Increases 2016 GDP Growth Forecast After Earlier ‘Mistake’

Ghana Increases 2016 GDP Growth Forecast After Earlier ‘Mistake’

ACCRA, Ghana, Capital Markets in Africa: Ghana’s finance ministry increased its economic growth forecast for 2016 two weeks after projecting the slowest expansion in more than three decades due to a “mistake” in its calculations. West Africa’s largest economy after Nigeria will grow between 4.1 percent and 4.3 percent this year compared with 3.9 percent in 2015, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said in an interview in the capital, Accra, on Monday. The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee…

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Nigeria Inflation 16.5% in June, Highest in Almost 11 Years

Nigeria Inflation 16.5% in June, Highest in Almost 11 Years

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigerian inflation accelerated to the highest rate in almost 11 years in June, complicating the task of the central bank in an economy which is at risk of contracting this year. The inflation rate in Africa’s largest economy increased to 16.5 percent from 15.6 in May, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. That’s the highest rate since October 2005, according to data on the Central Bank of…

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