Nigeria Delays New Bank Capital Rules in Bid to Avoid Recession

Nigeria Delays New Bank Capital Rules in Bid to Avoid Recession

Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigeria plans to delay new capital rules for banks as regulators in Africa’s biggest economy follow fellow oil producer Kazakhstan in trying to boost lending and avoid a recession. The Central Bank of Nigeria in 2014 ordered the country’s lenders it considered too big to fail to boost minimum capital adequacy ratios to 16 percent from 15 percent to increase their resilience to shocks. The new rules, which followed a banking crisis…

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Nigeria | Out of Options Amid Economic Slump, Nigeria Abandons Naira Peg

Nigeria | Out of Options Amid Economic Slump, Nigeria Abandons Naira Peg

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Battered by the oil plunge, starved of foreign currency and with the economy headed into recession, Africa’s second-biggest crude producer said Wednesday it will allow the naira to float, setting the stage for the currency to weaken. Free trade in the naira, set for Monday, will mark the end of more than a year of resistance by President Muhammadu Buhari, who reiterated his opposition to devaluation as recently as two…

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Egypt’s Dilemma as Central Bank Meets on Rates

Egypt’s Dilemma as Central Bank Meets on Rates

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Soaring inflation and a long-running dollar shortage suggest Egypt’s central bank has ample reason to raise interest rates when officials meet on Thursday. On the flip-side, doing so would increase interest payments for a government trying to plug a hole in its finances. A Bloomberg survey shows economists are split, with three predicting a hold and three predicting an increase to the benchmark rate. The central bank raised Egypt’s key interest…

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Bank of Japan Keeps Policy Unchanged Even as Kuroda Warns on Yen

Bank of Japan Keeps Policy Unchanged Even as Kuroda Warns on Yen

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Bank of Japan refrained from expanding monetary stimulus ahead of the U.K. vote on Brexit next week that could roil global markets, and before a domestic election in which the political opposition has made the bank’s negative interest-rate policy an issue. With the yen soaring to its strongest in almost two years after the decision Thursday, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated in a press conference in Tokyo that the central bank won’t hesitate to take…

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Mozambique Raises Key Rate to 14.25% to Contain Inflation in June

Mozambique Raises Key Rate to 14.25% to Contain Inflation in June

MAPUTO, Capital Markets in Africa: Mozambique’s central bank raised its key interest rate for a third time this year as a weakening currency led to soaring inflation in the southern African nation. Policy makers increased the benchmark policy rate by 150 basis points to 14.25 percent, the Maputo-based institution said in a statement on Monday. The interest rate on the standing deposit facility was raised to 7.25 percent from 5.75 percent. The annual inflation rate…

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Nigerian Naira Devaluation Bets Surge Before Nigeria Unveils New Policy

Nigerian Naira Devaluation Bets Surge Before Nigeria Unveils New Policy

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Naira forward contracts surged to a record as traders anticipated Nigeria’s central bank would devalue the currency on Wednesday as part of a new foreign-exchange policy. Governor Godwin Emefiele will make a televised announcement from around 2 p.m. in Abuja, the capital, according to Isaac Okorafor, a central bank spokesman. Twelve-month non-deliverable naira forward contracts surged 3.3 percent to352 per dollar, a record on a closing basis, as of 11:27 a.m. in…

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Nigerian Monetary Policy Committee Embraces Flexibility — Afrinvest

Nigerian Monetary Policy Committee Embraces Flexibility — Afrinvest

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the conclusion of its 3rd meeting for the year decided to hold all rates unchanged. More specifically, the Committee decided to;  Retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 12.0% Maintain the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +200/-500bps Retain Cash Reserves Ratio (CRR) at 22.5% Keep the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30.0% Adopt flexibility of the interbank exchange rate market with a small…

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