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Zambia’s 2015 fiscal deficit to exceed 4.6 pct of GDP: official

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia’s fiscal deficit will exceed the targeted 4.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2015 due to weaker copper prices and changes to the mining tax regime, a senior Treasury official said on Friday. Mike Masiye, the director of budget in the ministry of finance, said copper prices had collapsed to around $6,000 per tonne from about $6,780 when the budget was formulated. Africa’s second-largest copper producer would also lose revenue after…

South Africa’s rand recovers as soft U.S. data weighs on dollar

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand strengthened against the dollar on Thursday as soft U.S. housing and jobs data weighed on the dollar, adding uncertainty over the timing of a rate rise from the Federal Reserve. At 1530 GMT, the rand was trading 0.61 percent firmer at 11.9925 to the dollar, compared with an overnight close of 12.0320 in New York. “The U.S. data is very soft, so thatâ€™s supporting the trend of slight bearing…

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