Economic News |

Moody’s upgrades Egypt to B3 with a stable outlook

Moody’s Investors Service has today upgraded Egypt’s issuer and senior unsecured bond ratings to B3 from Caa1, with a stable outlook. Key drivers for today’s rating action are: Improving macroeconomic performance, Reduction in external vulnerabilities, and Ongoing commitment to fiscal and economic reform. In today’s rating action, Moody’s has also raised Egypt’s foreign-currency bond ceiling to B2 from B3, the foreign-currency deposit ceiling to Caa1 from Caa2, and the local-currency country risk ceiling to Ba2…

Cote d’Ivoire forecasts double-digit growth for 2015

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Cote d’Ivoire, the world’s top cocoa producer whose economy was battered by a civil war and ensuing political unrest, should see double-digit growth this year according to Prime Minister Daniel Kablan. The West African country has seen its economy expand on average by 9.0% since 2012, and this year “we want to reach double-digit growth,” the Prime Minister added. “We are ambitious in Cote d’Ivoire,” he went on, adding that he expected the country to…

Moody’s ASIA PACIFIC Economic Outlook

Posted on by The Editorial Team

China’s data for the first two months of the year were fairly dismal. Most activity indicators suggest that there are large downward pressures on the economy, which means that the government will need to ease measures if it is to keep the economy growing close to its target. Industrial production grew just 6.8% y/y in the first two months of the year, down from a 7.9% increase in December. This was due to further weakness…

Egypt’s current account hits deficit of $2.9 bln in Oct-Dec quarter

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s current account deficit widened to $2.9 billion in the three months to December from $1.4 billion in the same period the previous year, according to Reuters calculations. The deficit stood at $4.3 billion in the first half of the fiscal year which began on July 1, compared with a deficit of $866 million in the same period a year before, the central bank said on Thursday. The deficit was driven by…

IMF puts Tanzania’s economic growth above 7 pct in 2014

Posted on by The Editorial Team

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania’s gross domestic product expanded by more than 7 percent in 2014, with falling oil prices expected to further buoy the economy this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday. The IMF despite a strong growth outlook for 2015, the east African nation must keep a tight rein on public spending due to revenue collection shortfalls and a reduction in financial aid. Donors have withheld more than three-quarters of…

South Africa’s rand steady before Fed statement

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand steadied against the dollar early on Wednesday, with markets waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy statement for clues on when the Fed will hike interest rates.The rand was also under pressure after optimism provided by a narrowing of the current account deficit in the fourth quarter of 2014 was overshadowed by signs of foreign capital flight.At 0615 GMT the rand was trading at 12.3735 to the dollar, not…

« 1 2 3 4