Economy

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Annual inflation in Egypt eased to its lowest level since May 2016, offering further evidence that the impact of the pound’s flotation and subsidy cuts is fading. The annual rate in March in urban parts of Egypt dropped to 13.3 percent from 14.4 percent in February, according to data posted on the website of the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS. The figure is squarely within the target range of 13 percent,…

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund denied asking the Zambian government to undertake an independent audit of its foreign debt. The Washington-based lender also didn’t release any estimate of Zambia’s debt to donors, resident representative Alfredo Baldini said Monday in an emailed response to questions. Nomura International Plc economist Peter Attard Montalto said in a March 27 note the IMF had requested that Zambia’s government undertakes an independent audit of its foreign debt….

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s statistics agency plans to revise the size of the East African economy and reconstitute its inflation basket after a survey of household incomes showed poverty levels fell in the past decade. It’ll be the second rebasing of statistics used in calculating gross domestic product since 2014, when the nation increased the size of its economy by a quarter to $55.2 billion. Annual output is now estimated at about…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s inflation rate fell further below the midpoint of the target range in February, giving the central bank another reason to consider easing monetary policy next week. Inflation slowed to 4 percent, the lowest level in almost three years, from 4.4 percent in January, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in a report on its website. The median estimate of 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey was 4.1 percent. Prices rose…