Category: INTERNATIONAL
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South Africa:IMF to visit Mozambique
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sending a team to Mozambique at the end of September for an update on the southern African nation’s struggling economy, including its progress in accounting for over $2 billion in irregular state loans. The IMF team will be in Maputo for a week from Sept. 22 to review efforts…
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Algeria: Medicines Imports Rise By 10 Percent in Seven Months
Pharmaceutical imports rose by 10% in the first seven months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, despite a slight drop in the imported quantities, the Algerian Customs told APS. The value of imports reached US$1.14 billion between January and July 2016, against US$1.03 billion during the same period of reference in 2015,…
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Kenya:Relief for borrowers as KCB, CfC banks cut cost of old loans
Kenya’s biggest bank by assets KCB and CfC Stanbic Wednesday announced that they had lowered interest rates for existing borrowers in line with the new law capping the cost of loans, piling pressure on their peers to follow suit. The decision marks a departure from the industry lobby Kenya Bankers Association’s (KBA) earlier position that…
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Nigeria: Govt Okays More External Borrowings, Says It’s Certain About How to Turn Economy Around
The Federal Government says it is focused on how to turn around the nation’s economy despite the staggering economic situation, which has pushed inflation to a double digit of 17.1. The declaration followed on the heels of the submission by the National Bureau of Statistics that the economy was technically in a recession. But at…
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Kenya:MPs reject proposal raising core capital for banks to Sh5bn
MPs have handed small banks and mortgage firms a lifeline by rejecting a proposal to raise core capital to Sh5 billion, but passed the one requiring the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to consult the Treasury before putting lenders under receivership. The CBK and the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) must now consult the Treasury…
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Nigeria: How We Will Get Nigeria Out of Recession – Govt
The Federal Government has declared that it has a long way to go in terms of fixing the economy. Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said this on Wednesday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. The minister admitted that this was the…
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Egypt’s House of Representatives Approves 13 Percent Vat Rate
Egypt’s House of Representatives approved on Sunday the rate of the Value-added tax (VAT) to be set at 13 per cent. The VAT rate raised controversy between the House members with a number of MPs calling for the rate to be as low as 10 per cent. The Finance Minister Amr al-Garhy however argued that…
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Nigeria: Oil Market Volatility May Last Till End of 2017 – Shell
Global oil giant, Shell said oil market volatility prompted by huge oversupply which has weighed on prices for the past two years may not likely clear until the second half of 2017. The potential return to the market of some 1.5 million barrels per day of supply from Libya and Nigeria and uncertainty about Iranian…
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Kenya:Banks stocks on the up following days of rout
Bank stocks appeared to have bottomed out after days of a rout with nearly all counters rising Wednesday amidst rising orders. Share prices of Housing Finance, Coop and I&M rose by the highest allowable margin of 10 per cent for a single day but those of StanChart and National Bank of Kenya remained unchanged. With…
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Zambia in talks with IMF, plans to cut subsidies
Zambia plans to cut subsidies as agreed with the International monetary Fund, with talks on an aid package at an advanced stage, a presidential spokesman said on Tuesday. “The money that is being injected into subsidies will be invested in growth areas of the economy,” presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told a media briefing. Chanda said…