Category: INTERNATIONAL
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Kenya: Banks raise Treasury bonds holdings by Sh46bn in May
Banks raised their holdings of government debt by Sh46 billion in May eating into the share held by retail investors. Latest Central Bank of Kenya data shows that the lenders now account for Sh1.134 trillion or 56.2 per cent of domestic debt, which in total stands at Sh2.018 trillion. They held 55.2 per cent at…
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Nigerian Carriers Lost 60% Regional, International Passengers
Lagos — Capacity constraints have clipped the wings of Nigerian airlines on the regional and international fronts with their operations reducing by over 60 per cent from 2016 till date; checks by Daily Trust have shown. An analysis of international flight operations summaries of 2016 and 2017 first quarters indicated that the country’s domestic airlines…
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Nigeria: CBN to Sell Dollars to Airlines, Fuel Importers
Manufacturers, airlines, fuel importers and agriculture businesses will be able to buy dollars at a special market intervention, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said on Wednesday. The new intervention will enable them to clear a backlog of foreign exchange obligations, the apex bank said in a notice to lenders. The central bank plans to…
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Kenya: Coffee earnings up 21 per cent in March auctions
Coffee earnings in April improved 21 per cent compared with the same period last year even as the volume traded at the auction declined marginally. Statistics from Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) indicate that the value of Kenya’s coffee moved from Sh11.6 billion ($112.5 million) to Sh13.9 billion ($135.3 million) in the period under review on…
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Kenya:Eleven banks get Sh23bn Kenya Airways shares in bailout plan
Eleven Kenyan banks are set to convert Sh23 billion in risky Kenya Airways loans into shares in a rare restructuring deal fronted by the Treasury that has seen the lenders also commit to advance the struggling airline working capital. The banks, which include big lenders Equity, KCB Group , Commercial Bank of Africa and Co-operative…
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South Africa’s central bank wary of cutting rates: Kahn
South Africa’s central bank is wary of cutting interest rates to support economic growth until it is convinced an improved inflation outlook can be sustained, monetary policy committee member Brian Kahn said on Thursday. “We would not want to reduce rates and then be forced into a premature reversal of policy,” Kahn said in a…
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Fitch sees South Africa missing revenue forecasts
South Africa is likely to miss revenue forecasts set out in a February budget while weakness in running of state-owned companies will be a risk to fiscal deficit targets, Fitch director Jan Friederich said on Thursday. Friederich said business confidence had been dented by political infighting within the ruling African National Congress ahead of a…
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South Africa: Markets see cutting rates to boost growth
South African bonds priced in a higher likelihood of a 50 basis point rate cut by the central bank sooner than anticipated after the economy unexpectedly slipped into recession and raised the risk of further credit downgrades. Forward rate markets on Wednesday were pricing in a nearly 30 percent chance of a 50 basis point…
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S.Africa’s Eskom to seek 20 pct electricity tariff increase: report
South Africa’s cash-strapped utility Eskom will seek power price increases of nearly 20 percent when it approaches the electricity regulator at end of the month, the BusinessDay newspaper reported on Tuesday citing confidential documents. Eskom, the sole power supplier to Africa’s most developed economy, was granted a 2.2 percent tariff increase by the National Energy…
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South African recession puts fiscal targets at risk: Treasury
South Africa’s negative economic growth is a risk to fiscal targets and puts pressure on the government to intensify growth programmes as a matter of urgency, the Treasury said on Tuesday. South Africa entered recession for the first time in eight years, led by weak manufacturing and trade, data from Statistics South Africa showed. “This…