West Africa | - Part 19

Nigeria: 2015 Budget Snapshot

The Nigerian Federal House of Representative on Thursday passed the sum of N4.5tn budget for the 2015 fiscal year with an increase of N135.4bn over initial proposal submitted in November 2014. In addition, the House has adopted an oil benchmark of US$53.0, daily oil production of 2.3mbpd, exchange rate of N190.00/US$1.00 and fiscal deficit/GDP ratio of 1.1%. Surprisingly, no provision for fuel subsidy was made in the approved 2015 Appropriation Act. A further review of…

Nigerian current-account deficit is 0.1% GDP in Q4 2014

Posted on by The Editorial Team

The CBN’s External Sector Development Report for Q4 2014 shows a modest current-account deficit equivalent to 0.1% of GDP. This was to be expected, given that the international oil price fell by about US$25/b over the quarter in question. The report also revised earlier data, notably for Q2 for which a surplus representing 1.1% of GDP was transformed into a 0.4% deficit. The deterioration predates the latest slide in the oil price and can be traced to…

Nigeria: DMO comfortably raised US$350

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Nigerian Debt Management Office held its latest monthly auction of FGN bonds on Wednesday and comfortably raised its target of N70bn (US$350m). The total bid of N186bn was the highest since July 2014 and a sharp increase on the previous month’s N116bn. Local institutional buying picked up on the positive momentum generated by the elections. The offshore community also made an appearance: some players may have re-entered the market, having seen the theory of a…

Nigerian Foreign Reserves at Record Low

Posted on by The Editorial Team

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), reported levels of the Nigerian External Reserves (“the Reserves”) as at 15th of April 2015 stands at US$29.3bn – its lowest level since 2010. Worthy of note is the fact that the Reserves have been on a downward trend since the beginning of the year on the back of falling global oil prices and CBN’s resolve to defend the Naira. The Reserves has declined US$5.0bn (16.9%) in…

Global remittances to slow down in 2015 say WorldBank report

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Growth in global remittances, including those to developing countries, will slow sharply in 2015 due to weak economic growth in Europe, deterioration of the Russian economy and the depreciation of the euro and ruble, says the latest issue of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief. Officially recorded remittances to the developing world are expected to reach USD 440bn in 2015, an increase of 0.9% over the previous year. Global remittances, including those to high…

Mali sees growth slipping to 5 pct range in 2015: finance minister

Posted on by The Editorial Team

BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali’s economic growth will slow this year after reaching 7.2 percent in 2014 due to increased cotton production, although it should still top 5 percent, the finance minister said on Thursday. The West African nation, one of the region’s leading cotton producers, saw raw cotton output jump to 550,000 tonnes in 2014 from 440,000 the previous year after the government increased input subsidies and lowered the price of fertilizers. “It’s this increase…

Ghana: Bank of Ghana Maintains Policy Rate at 21%

Posted on by The Editorial Team

In line with our expectation, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) maintained the policy rate at 21%, continuing the tight monetary stance. Inflation for Jan-15 eased for the first time in 16 months by 60bps to 16.4%, weighed down by the declining crude oil price and a relative stability in exchange rate and utility prices. Despite the downward pressure from the low crude oil price and improved inflation expectations, the…

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