IMF Says Nigeria’s Economy May Contract by 1.8% in 2016

IMF Says Nigeria’s Economy May Contract by 1.8% in 2016

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Africa’s largest economy will probably contract by 1.8 percent this year and curb growth in the entire region, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based lender cut its 2016 growth forecast for Nigeria from 2.3 percent projected in April, according to its World Economic Outlook update released on Tuesday. The projection for next year was reduced to 1.1 percent from 3.5 percent. The Nigerian economy will contract for the first…

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IMF Says Brexit Will Drag Down World Economic Growth

IMF Says Brexit Will Drag Down World Economic Growth

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will reduce global economic growth this year and next, the International Monetary Fund says. The IMF said Tuesday that it is shaving its estimate for worldwide growth to 3.1 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2017. Both estimates are 0.1 percentage points lower than the bank’s previous forecast in April. IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said the bank was prepared “as…

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South Africa GDP Growth Too Slow to Improve Conditions, IMF Says

South Africa GDP Growth Too Slow to Improve Conditions, IMF Says

South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Economic growth in South Africa is too slow to improve living standards in a country where a third of the population is excluded from the economy, according to the International Monetary Fund. “The cost of insufficient action has reached the critical point,” the lender’s First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton said in a speech in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “What is needed is a fresh and energetic review of South Africa’s policies, followed by…

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Ghana Increases 2016 GDP Growth Forecast After Earlier ‘Mistake’

Ghana Increases 2016 GDP Growth Forecast After Earlier ‘Mistake’

ACCRA, Ghana, Capital Markets in Africa: Ghana’s finance ministry increased its economic growth forecast for 2016 two weeks after projecting the slowest expansion in more than three decades due to a “mistake” in its calculations. West Africa’s largest economy after Nigeria will grow between 4.1 percent and 4.3 percent this year compared with 3.9 percent in 2015, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said in an interview in the capital, Accra, on Monday. The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee…

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Nigeria Inflation 16.5% in June, Highest in Almost 11 Years

Nigeria Inflation 16.5% in June, Highest in Almost 11 Years

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigerian inflation accelerated to the highest rate in almost 11 years in June, complicating the task of the central bank in an economy which is at risk of contracting this year. The inflation rate in Africa’s largest economy increased to 16.5 percent from 15.6 in May, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. That’s the highest rate since October 2005, according to data on the Central Bank of…

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IMF Says Nigeria’s Economy Will Probably Contract This Year

IMF Says Nigeria’s Economy Will Probably Contract This Year

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigeria’s economy will probably contract this year as energy shortages and the delayed budget weigh on output, according to the International Monetary Fund. “I think there is a high likelihood that the year 2016 as a whole will be a contractionary year,” Gene Leon, the fund’s resident representative in Nigeria, said in an interview in the capital, Abuja, on July 8. While the economy should look better in second half…

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Rising Energy-Import Bill Deepens Tunisia’s Economic Troubles

Rising Energy-Import Bill Deepens Tunisia’s Economic Troubles

TUNIS, Capital Markets in Africa: Social and political unrest in Tunisia is reducing energy production, adding to the economic pressure on the fragile nation that was the only real success story to emerge from the Arab Spring. The North African country’s energy-import bill has risen 45 percent to 5.5 billion dinars ($2.5 billion) since 2010, government data show. Domestic oil production dropped by about a quarter over the same period to 63,000 barrels a day last year, according…

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