Banking | - Part 82

Weak South Africa Growth May Allow for Lower Rate, Bank Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s weak economic growth may provide some scope for lower interest rates, the central bank said. “With near-zero growth and a negative output gap, there is some limited scope for lower interest rates to have positive counter-cyclical effects,” the South African Reserve Bank said in its Monetary Policy Review Wednesday. The central bank left its key rate unchanged at 6.75 percent on Sept. 22 as it assessed risks to the rand…

Uganda Cuts Benchmark Rate to Record Low to Boost Credit

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) Uganda’s central bank reduced its benchmark interest rate to support economic growth even as lending to businesses and individuals begins to show signs of improvement. Policy makers at the Bank of Uganda cut the rate by 50 basis points to 9.5 percent, extending an easing cycle that began in April 2016. Prior to Tuesday’s decision, they’d reduced the rate by a total of 700 basis points in eight of the past nine…

SBM of Mauritius Eyes Kenyan Banks, Plans Nigerian Expansion

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PORT LOIUS (Capital Markets in Africa) – SBM Holdings Ltd., Mauritius’s second-largest lender, plans more acquisitions in Kenya as it seeks to become one of the country’s top 10 banks within the next three years before expanding into West Africa. The bank, which obtained a license to begin operating SBM Kenya Ltd. in May, expects to have its systems and staff in place by December, Advisor to the Board of Directors & Group Lead Executive Moses Harding…

Ghana Bank Holds Key Rate at 2015 Low as Inflation Quickens

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s central bank kept its key lending rate at the lowest since 2015 after inflation accelerated for the first time in four months. The Bank of Ghana left the rate at 21 percent, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters Monday in the capital, Accra. Two of seven economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted the hold, while the rest forecast cuts ranging from 50 to 100 basis points. The central bank of West Africa’s biggest…

Record-High Nigeria Rate Seen Held on Inflation, Naira Woes

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Now that Nigeria’s economy is recovering from its worst slump in 25 years, the central bank can turn its focus to fighting inflation again — and shoring up its currency. The Monetary Policy Committee has kept its interest rate at a record-high 14 percent since July 2016, trying to support the economy, and will probably hold it there at its decision this week to contain above-target consumer-price growth. Officials can take heart…

Nigeria Central Bank’s Acting as Piggy Bank, MPC Member Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Nigeria’s central bank is acting like a “piggy bank” with its funding of the government, according to a member of the Monetary Policy Committee who said he struggles to understand the regulator’s economic rationale. Monetary data showed a “sharp rise” in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financing of the government deficit this year, Doyin Salami said after the MPC’s July 24-25 meeting, according to a central bank statement published Tuesday. The regulator’s…

The Reason Why South Africa’s Central Bank May Cut Again This Week

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – If South Africa’s central bank cuts interest rates again this week, just don’t accuse it of doing so for the sake of “socioeconomic well-being.” The institution has been fighting off a bid by the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman to change its mandate away from targeting inflation to focusing on the financial health and quality of life of its citizens. But officials might be about to deliver their second rate reduction this…

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