Monetary benchmark rate |

Morocco Holds Key Rate Despite Signs of Economic Slowdown

RABAT (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 2.25 percent, even as it warned of an economic slowdown stretching into next year. The decision Tuesday came amid a dramatic falloff in credit growth and inflation, both potential catalysts for a rate cut to stimulate investment. Government data for the second quarter “indicate an economic activity level well below expectations,” Bank Al Maghreb said in a…

Nigeria Holds Key Rate at Record-High 14% on Inflation Risks

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank held its main lending rate at a record-high 14 percent as it seeks to bring inflation down to within its target band. Of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee who attended this week’s meeting, eight voted to leave the benchmark rate, Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday. That decision matched the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Lawmakers only approved 2018 spending…

Angola Raises Key Rate to Record-High 18% on Inflation Concerns

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to a record 18 percent as it seeks to counter inflation and support the kwanza. The key rate was increased from 16 percent, Luanda-based Banco Nacional de Angola said on Thursday after a meeting of the monetary policy committee. “The bank paid particular attention to the evolution of prices in the economy, having observed an acceleration in inflation,” the MPC said in a…

Ghana Central Bank Governor Sees Room for Further Rate Cut

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bank of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison said there is scope for a further cut in the country’s main interest rate should the economy keep improving. “If the fundamentals of the economy are seen to be improving, then there is room for a rate cut, even though inflation has stayed at around 12 percent,” he said in an interview Tuesday in the capital, Accra. The central bank of West Africa’s biggest economy…

For Stocks Pumped by Draghi’s Stimulus, The Only Way May Be Down

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ahead of this week’s European Central Bank meeting, investors mostly see the region’s equities weathering President Mario Draghi’s tapering signals. But in the short term, there are signals aplenty that the shares may be ripe for a pullback, particularly if the euro resumes its rally. Strategists on average now expect the Euro Stoxx 50 to decline by year-end. Here are five charts that indicate overheating in the stock market. Euro-area stocks are no longer…

BOE’s November Rate Hike Isn’t Set in Stone After Crunch Week

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – After a crucial week for the Bank of England, a November interest-rate increase no longer looks like a sure thing. Inflation may have hit 3 percent, but for some policymakers at the central bank, the domestic price pressures that justify raising now aren’t there. That view was backed up by data Wednesday that showed wage growth slowing. Dave Ramsden, the Monetary Policy Committee’s newest member, had said a day earlier that…

South Africa’s Mminele Downplays Chance of Imminent Rate Cuts

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uncertainty limits the opportunity for rate cuts in South Africa even as inflation remains within the central bank’s target band, according to Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele. The bank unexpectedly kept its key rate unchanged at 6.75 percent at its last policy meeting in September, concerned about higher inflation expectations. Price growth quickened to 4.8 percent in August, its fifth month within the central bank’s target range of 3 percent to 6 percent. “Amid…

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