Banking

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate for a fifth consecutive time as it sees economic growth momentum remaining strong and inflation staying inside its target range. The Monetary Policy Committee kept the rate at 16%, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters on Monday in the capital, Accra. That was in line with the forecast of all four economists in a Bloomberg survey. Key Insights While inflation dropped below…

NAIROBI (Capital Markers in Africa) – Kenya’s central bank increased its authorized and paid-up capital amid demands by the government that state-owned corporations remit more dividends to its coffers. The central bank strengthened its paid-up capital by 75% to 35 billion shillings ($345.3 million) in September from 20 billion shillings, having increased authorized capital to 50 billion shillings from 5 billion shillings, the lender said on its Twitter account. The statement follows acting Treasury Secretary Ukur…

LUSAKA(Capital Markers in Africa) – Zambia’s central bank and the government agreed that 4.4 billion kwacha ($310 million) the state owed the institution be converted into securities, Governor Denny Kalyalya said. The state borrowed the money from the Bank of Zambia at a time when the country was emerging from an electricity crisis and economic strain, and as elections in 2016 approached. The loans peaked at 5.3 billion kwacha in July 2016 but were marked as zero…

JOHANNESBURG(Capital Markers in Africa) – The South African Reserve Bank held its benchmark interest rate and signaled that it may only start easing again in the second half of next year. The Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the repurchase rate at 6.5%, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters Thursday in the capital, Pretoria. Three members of the five-person panel opted to maintain the rate while the rest preferred a 25 basis-point cut. The decision was in line…

HARARE (Capital Markers in Africa) – Zimbabwe’s central bank halved its key interest rate to 35%, joining the finance ministry in efforts to revive an economy hobbled by years of mismanagement. The decision reverses a move by the southern African nation’s newly formed Monetary Policy Committee in September, which raised the rate from 50%. It follows the unveiling last week of the 2020 budget which shows a planned surge in spending for next year. The…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.K. lawmaker Peter Hain accused international banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc of aiding and abetting graft in South Africa during former President Jacob Zuma’s rule and earning considerable fees in the process. The lenders enabled members of the Gupta family, who were Zuma’s allies and in business with his son, to launder stolen funds and remove them from South Africa by allowing them to open accounts and granting…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Citigroup Inc. is calling for greater consistency in implementing regulations for the banking industry in Africa and warned frequent changes will harm the sector. The bank’s business was one of 12 lenders Nigeria’s central bank penalized last month for failing to meet credit-provision targets. Citigroup was handed a 100.7 billion naira ($279 million) penalty out of a combined sanction of 500 billion that was transferred from the lenders’ cash reserves to the…