Economy | - Part 39

Morocco’s credit profile reflects move towards value-added exports and fiscal progress

RABAT (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco’s (Ba1 positive) credit strengths reflects a structural shift towards higher value-added export industries and fiscal improvements which could lead to stronger non-agricultural growth and a stabilization and gradual reduction in public sector debt, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report published last Friday. The main constraints on Morocco’s rating are relatively low GDP per capita, a volatile growth pattern and a relatively high, but affordable, debt-to-GDP ratio. A…

ETHIOPIA: Ratings affirmed on strong growth prospects

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ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Ethiopia’s long-term issuer rating and senior unsecured rating at ‘B1’ with a ‘stable’ outlook. It said that the ratings are supported by the country’s very strong growth potential, and expectations of narrow fiscal deficits and low public debt levels. In contrast, it noted that the ratings are constrained by contingent liabilities from state-owned enterprises (SOEs), structural shortages of US dollars and elevated political risks….

Egypt Economy: Four Tailwinds for Economic Growth in 2018

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s economy took a battering after the revolution of 2011, with annual growth declining to 3.1% in 2011-16 from an average of 6.2% in 2005-10. But the economy should recover in 2018, helped by four tailwinds: declining inflation, lower interest rates, recovering tourism and gas production from a new field. Egypt’s macroeconomic conditions were dire in 2016. Foreign currency was in short supply, resulting in the emergence of a…

Kenyan Inflation Rate Rises for First Month in Five in January

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan inflation accelerated for the first month in five in January as corn prices rose and crude costs increased. Consumer prices climbed 4.8 percent from a year earlier, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday in a statement emailed from the capital, Nairobi. Prices advanced 1.3 percent in the month. A government-imposed cap on commercial lending rates, a drought and two disputed elections have weighed on economic growth in…

Moody’s changes outlook on Zambia’s B3 rating to stable from negative, affirms rating

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London (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service, (“Moody’s”) has today changed the rating outlook for the Government of Zambia to stable from negative and affirmed its B3 long-term issuer rating. The stable outlook reflects reduced government liquidity pressures and a slowdown in government debt accumulation which Moody’s expects to continue. The B3 rating balances a strong growth potential boosted by ample natural resources and a young and growing population against continuing credit challenges…

South Africa Core Inflation Rate Drops to Six-Year Low

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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

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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…

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