Economy | - Part 40

The Economy’s So Rosy, Let’s Talk About Recession

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – We don’t know what will cause it, or when. But it’s coming, and central banks are unprepared. Although the world economy is in its eighth year of expansion, a casual observer might be forgiven for thinking things have just got going. Don’t worry; they will keep going for a while, according to the International Monetary Fund, which released an update to its World Economic Outlook this week. Thank the…

Nigeria’s Political Deadlock Threatens Economic Rebound

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank has fallen victim to a battle between President Muhammadu Buhari and his parliament. The Monetary Policy Committee won’t meet as scheduled this week because it lacks a quorum after the Senate refused to approve Buhari’s nominees for the panel, meaning the central bank couldn’t formally set interest rates. That setback adds to the economic fallout from a longstanding political standoff: lawmakers are threatening to delay his budget for a third year…

OPEC’s Angola Drops Its Currency Further a Week After Ending Peg

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola weakened its currency by 10 percent against the dollar, letting it drop for a second time this month after scrapping a peg in a bid to boost its battered economy. The central bank sold euros on Tuesday at a rate of 248.77 kwanzas per euro, it said in a statement on its website. That was 11 percent weaker than the rate of 221.26 used at the last auction a…

Nigerian Rates Easing Still Some Way Off Even as Inflation Slows

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LAGOS (capital Markets in Africa) – The slowdown in Nigeria inflation to a 20-month low may not be enough to prompt the central bank to start easing just yet. The inflation rate in Africa’s most-populous nation fell to 15.4 percent from 15.9 percent in November, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an emailed report Tuesday. The median estimate of seven economists in a Bloomberg survey was for the rate to remain unchanged. Prices rose 0.6 percent…

A Star Arab Economy Eases Hold on Currency to Lure Investors

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CASABLANCA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco loosened its currency peg in a long-awaited move aimed at strengthening its economy and avoiding financial imbalances that forced a slew of emerging nations into sharp devaluations. Bank al-Maghrib on Monday allowed the dirham to fluctuate 2.5 percent above or below its official rate, significantly widening the band from 0.3 percent each way. The central bank updated the dirham’s band from to 8.9783 to 9.4328 against the dollar as of…

What Will It Take to Fix the Mess in Zimbabwe?

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Busisa Moyo can’t wait to get out the door. It’s the middle of a Monday afternoon, and the chief executive officer of Zimbabwe’s United Refineries Ltd. is striding briskly out of his crushing plant—a vast rectangular structure with red brick walls and a corrugated metal roof. In theory, this is where millions of soybeans at a time can be cleaned, heated, cracked, and pulverized to extract vegetable oil. Except today, like most…

Egypt Inflation Rate Drops as Currency Float Shock Eases

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s monthly urban inflation rate fell for the first time in more than two years as the impact of lifting currency controls eased. The month-on-month inflation rate came in at minus 0.2 percent in December, its lowest rate since November 2015, while the annual inflation rate eased to 21.9 percent from 26 percent the previous month, according to the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS. Annual prices were affected by a slowing of…

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