Banking | - Part 104

Congo Raises Key Rate to 7% to Check Inflation, Defend Franc

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo raised its key interest rate by 5 percentage points to 7 percent because of accelerating inflation and “tensions” in the foreign-exchange market. The increase marks the first change in the base rate in almost three years and comes after the government’s foreign-exchange reserves dropped below $1 billion for the first time since 2008. Reserves have fallen by a third since the start of the year as a sustained…

Moroccan and Rwandan Central bank keep rate unchanged in Sept

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CASABLACA/KIGALI, Capital Markets in Africa: – Morocco’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25 percent on Tuesday, saying the inflation forecast was consistent with its price stability objective. The bank, known as Bank al-Maghrib, said it expected inflation to remain around 1.6 percent in 2016 and fall to 1.2 percent in 2017. Expecting agricultural output to rebound in 2017 from the worst drought in decades to hit North Africa, the bank said…

‘Super Rate Hike’ Still Seen in Egypt as Devaluation Looms

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Capital Markets in Africa: Egypt’s central bank, which unexpectedly left borrowing costs unchanged last week, is keeping its powder dry for what one economist called a “super” rate increase. Five out of 8 economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected the Monetary Policy Committee to raise its key rate on Thursday to curb accelerating inflation and lay the ground for a widely anticipated devaluation. The meeting was likely the last before Egypt secures a…

Algeria plans bank privatisations as oil money dries up

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ALGIERS, Capital Markets in Africa: Algeria plans to allow its dominant state banks to list on the local stock exchange to help develop its financial markets and diversify sources of funding after the oil price slide, a senior financial official said. The plan will open the door for foreign investors to acquire controlling stakes in banks, reversing a rule requiring Algerian firms to keep a majority shareholding in any partnership with foreigners, the official told…

Ghana’s Central Bank Urges Lenders Consolidate to Boost Growth

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ACCRA, Capital Markets in Africa: Ghana’s central bank expects mergers and acquisitions among lenders to increase as regulators prepare new rules that will boost the amount of cash that they need to set aside. Capital levels in the industry are too weak to support the government’s target of reaching gross domestic product growth of at least 8 percent a year, Bank of Ghana Governor Abdul Nashiru Issahaku said by phone on Friday. The bank will publish recommendations of…

Kenyan Lender CBA to Take Mobile-Bank Service Deeper Into Africa

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NAIROBI, Capital Markets in Africa: A Kenyan lender that transformed from an also-ran into the country’s biggest deposit-taker, mainly through a mobile-phone banking service started four years ago, plans to use the product as a beachhead to expand outside its East African home base. Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd., which also has units in Tanzania and Uganda, is seeking to export its M-Shwari mobile-phone service as part of a strategy to eventually have operations in 16 African…

Egypt’s central bank unexpectedly keeps rates unchanged in Sept

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Capital Markets in Africa: Egypt’s central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged at a monetary policy meeting on Thursday, confounding a unanimous forecast by analysts that it would hike borrowing costs to curb inflation. Egypt has been struggling to revive its economy since a 2011 revolution drove away tourists and foreign investors, its main sources of vital foreign currency. Its reserves have more than halved since, to around $16.5 billion in August. The…

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