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Saudi Arabia boosts Egypt’s economy with $5bn

Published

1 year ago

April 2, 2022

Egypt’s business and religious ally, Saudi Arabia, has boosted the dwindling economy of the North African country by depositing $5 billion in Egypt’s Central Bank as the Egyptian economy faces new pressures as a result of the Russian-Ukraine war.

Saudi Arabian state news agency, SPA, said on Friday that the gesture was meant to help Egypt revive its economy after its currency was devalued on March 21 by about14% as investors pulled out billions of dollars out of the Egyptian treasury markets.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to implement the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Highness the Crown Prince, deposited $5bn with the Central Bank of Egypt,” the SPA said.

In October 2021, the Saudi Arabian government had also deposited $3bn with Egypt’s Central Bank and extended the term of another $2.3bn in previous deposits. The new deposit would thus bring the total to $10.3bn.

The Egyptian government had, last week, announced it was in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for potential funds and technical support to hedge against the effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis on its economy, as funding from additional donors is often a condition for finance from the IMF.

Egypt and Qatar have also agreed to sign investment deals worth $5bn, the Egyptian cabinet said in a statement.

Related Topics:Economy Egypt Featured Saudi Arabia

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Nigeria’s central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele suspended by President Tinubu

Published

13 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu has suspended the country’s central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation announced the suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) head on Friday evening.

The director of information at the SGF office, Willie Bassey, in a statement, said the suspension was with immediate effect.

The CBN under Emefiele announced new designs of the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in December. The implementation of the policy was however controversial as it launched an era of cash scarcity which some observers say was targeted at then ruling party’s candidate, Bola Tinubu, and some believe limited his chances.

Tinubu has signalled going in a different direction. During his inauguration speech, he pledged to pursue unification of the exchange rate windows and backed ease of repatriation of funds for foreign investors, policies that have not been favoured by the CBN under Emefiele.

Former president Muhammadu Buhari reappointed Emiefele for a second and final term of five years in 2019. He was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in February 2014, hours after he announced the suspension of his predecessor, Sanusi Lamido.

He was the managing director of top Nigerian bank, Zenith Bank before his appointment .

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Ghana records 32% increase in gold production in 2022

Published

15 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has returned to top of gold production on the continent after displacing South Africa following a 32% increase in 2022.

According to the president of the mines chamber, gold output rose to 3.7 million ounces in 2022 from 2.8 million ounces the previous year, as a result of growth in the output of both large and small-scale sectors.

Joshua Mortoti, while addressing members of the Ghana Chamber of Mines at an annual general meeting revealed that “The large-scale gold sub-sector recorded its highest output in the country’s history in 2022.”

He further revealed that the expansion of production at existing mines facilitated the large-scale sector’s gold output up by 13% to 3.1 million ounces last year from 2.7 million ounces in 2021.

Over 77,620 ounces of gold were sold in 2022 under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, a scheme launched by the Bank of Ghana to boost reserves.

Mining is a major economic activity in Ghana and a key contributor to the Ghanaian economy. Gold mining accounted for 48.4% of gross merchandise exports in 2020.