Economy | - Part 37

Tunisian Risks to Macroeconomic Stability Increase – IMF says

TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund considered that Tunisian authorities remain committed to the implementation of urgent economic reforms to reduce the country’s macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances. It indicated that the economy showed signs of recovery, with real GDP growing by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2018, its highest level since 2014, supported by strong agricultural production and exports. Also, it noted that the current account deficit narrowed because of a…

South Africa’s Nene Sees Faster Growth and Smaller Budget Gap

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s economy will expand faster and the fiscal deficit may be smaller than the estimates set out in the February budget, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said. Gross domestic product will grow more quickly this year than the 1.5 percent predicted in the budget, Nene told lawmakers in Cape Town on Tuesday, without giving a new forecast. The fiscal shortfall for the year to March 2018 could be “marginally lower” than…

Easing Inflation, Stable Naira Show Nigeria MPC May Be Right

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele’s tight monetary-policy stance and system of multiple exchange rates may have paid off through slowing inflation and a stable naira, and he’s not about to change that soon. The Monetary Policy Committee is meeting this week with price growth at a two-year low. All but four of the 15 economists in a Bloomberg survey said the panel will continue its unchanged stance on Tuesday. The MPC…

Nigerian Economy Expands in First Quarter as Oil Output Rises

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s economy expanded for a fourth straight quarter in the first three months of the year, boosted by an increase in oil prices and output. Gross domestic product expanded 1.95 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an emailed report Monday. That lags the 2.6 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. While it accounts for only about 10…

Emerging-Market Slump Shows IMF Reserves Endorsement Little Help

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ever since Thailand ushered in the Asian financial crisis by burning through its foreign-exchange reserves, those stockpiles have served as a gauge of resilience when turmoil erupts. This time round, the measure is looking shaky. Sure, there’s good correlation between the relatively low holdings in Argentina and Turkey and the slide in their assets. But India has the worst-performing exchange rate in Asia so far this year, and it has…

Moody’s Says Nigeria May Keep Several Naira Rates Until 2020

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria will probably maintain its system of multiple exchange rates, which the International Monetary Fund has long-urged it to scrap, until at least early 2020, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Merging the naira’s various rates any sooner might force the government to weaken the currency and raise fuel prices, which would accelerate inflation, the ratings company said. Nigerian monetary and fiscal authorities are likely to wait until investments in oil…

South African Inflation at 7-Year Low Boosts Rate-Cut Case

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa )- South Africa’s inflation rate fell to seven-year low in March, making a stronger case for the central bank to consider an interest-rate cut. Inflation slowed to 3.8 percent from a year earlier, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Wednesday in a report on its website. The median estimate of 20 economists was 4.1 percent in a Bloomberg survey. Price growth has remained within the central bank’s target range of 3…

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