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IMF assessing implications of Senegal financial audit

Published

15 hours ago

October 17, 2024

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revealed that a staff team has travelled to Senegal to begin evaluating the ramifications of data adjustments that emerged from a government audit of previous and ongoing initiatives that the IMF had sponsored.

IMF staff will continue to collaborate closely with the authorities in the upcoming weeks to assess the macroeconomic impact and lay out the next measures, the Fund said in a statement, even though the government’s findings have not yet been certified.

Last month, an audit of Senegal’s finances, commissioned by recently elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, revealed that the country’s deficit at the end of 2023 was over 10% of GDP, as opposed to the 5% that the previous administration had estimated.

Following the Fund’s evaluation in June, the government announced that it had chosen not to proceed with Senegal’s request for an IMF disbursement in July. Since then, the West African nation has been in talks with the IMF about corrective action.

From October 9 to October 16, an IMF staff team travelled to Senegal to examine the preliminary audit findings.

The next steps “will include assessing whether any misreporting occurred during previous and current IMF-supported programs”, the statement said.

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Namibia central bank drops key rate again to boost growth

Published

15 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Namibia’s central bank unanimously decided to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%, the same size of cut as at the August meeting.

The central bank cited the country’s economy’s need for additional support and the unexpectedly rapid decline in inflation as reasons for the second consecutive meeting of its main interest rate cut.

“The MPC noted the growing momentum in the international monetary policy easing cycle, the retreat in domestic inflation over the medium term, along with the recent downside surprise in the September 2024 inflation print,” Bank of Namibia Governor Johannes Gawaxab said in a statement accompanying the decision.

The nation in southern Africa saw its annual inflation decline sharply from 4.4% in August to 3.4% in September.

The central bank’s most recent meeting on Wednesday downgraded the average inflation forecast for this year from 4.7% to 4.3%.

The revision was ascribed to a more optimistic outlook for global oil prices as well as a more robust domestic currency rate.

According to the bank, credit extension to the private sector is still muted, indicating that more assistance for the home economy is necessary.
“The domestic economy, while growing at a moderate pace, was operating below full capacity,” Gawaxab said.

In 2024, growth is expected to drop to 3.1% from 4.2% in 2023.

Regarding a $750 million redemption of Eurobonds that is scheduled for late 2025, Namibia’s governor of the central bank stated that 82% of the $500 million it wishes to retire at maturity has already been put aside.

The government is still hoping to refinance the $250 million that is left! stated Gawaxab.In 2024, growth is expected to drop to 3.1% from 4.2% in 2023.

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Nigeria’s inflation snaps 2-month decline streak, rises by 32.7%

Published

2 days ago

October 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following a two-month decrease to 32.15% in August, Nigeria’s inflation rate rebounded to 32.7% in September. A spike in the month-on-month food inflation to 2.64% from 2.37% was the primary cause of the reversal.

This was revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its September Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report.

The Bureau said: “In September 2024, the Headline inflation rate was 32.70% relative to the August 2024 headline inflation rate of 32.15%. Looking at the movement, the September 2024 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.55% compared to the August 2024 Headline inflation rate.

“On a year-on-year basis, the Headline inflation rate was 5.98% points higher compared to the rate recorded in September 2023 (26.72%).

“This shows that the Headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in September 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding
year (i.e., September 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the Headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, which was 0.30% higher than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.22%).

“This means that in September 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is higher than the rate of increase in the average price level in August 2024.”

Predictably, following three spikes in gas prices since early September that have agitated residents already facing the greatest cost-of-living crisis in a generation, analysts had predicted that the July and August inflation slowdown would only last temporarily.

There is a chance that the central bank would decide to keep raising interest rates in the wake of the recent spike in prices, which has resulted in five hikes this year. The next interest rate announcement from the Central Bank of Nigeria is anticipated on November 26.