VenturesNow

Namibia central bank cuts rates for third time

Published

1 week ago

December 4, 2024

As inflation in the southern African nation continued to decline, Namibia’s central bank lowered its main interest rate on Wednesday for the third consecutive month.

Following decreases of a comparable magnitude in October and August, the Bank of Namibia lowered its repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.00%.

The decision was made one day after the results of the election revealed that Namibia’s first female leader and future president was Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, a member of the ruling SWAPO party.

Namibia’s annual inflation rate dropped from 3.4% in September to 3.0% in October.

“The disinflationary trend is attributed to the sustained lower average food inflation and, most recently, the deceleration in transport inflation,” the bank said in a statement.

The bank stated that the policy rate divergence with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the need to stimulate the local economy, and an acceptable level of foreign reserves were all taken into consideration when deciding to cut the repo rate.

Last month, the SARB also lowered its key rate by 25 basis points.

Due to a better-than-expected performance in gold mining, Namibia’s central bank increased its prediction for GDP growth in 2024 from 3.1% to 3.5% at its most recent monetary policy meeting.

Click to comment

VenturesNow

Egypt’s November inflation drops to 25.5%, near 2-year low

Published

12 hours ago

December 11, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to figures released Tuesday by statistics agency CAPMAS, Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate fell more than anticipated to 25.5% in November, the lowest level since December 2022.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused international investors to pull billions of dollars out of Egyptian treasury markets, inflation started to rise sharply in early 2022.

In September 2023, headline inflation reached a record high of 38.0%. It dropped to 26.5% by October 2024.

In a Reuters survey last month, 15 economists’ consensus prediction was for annual inflation to gradually decline to 26.4%.

According to CAPMAS statistics, headline inflation decreased from 1.1% in October to 0.5% in November every month.

Compared to October, when they fell 1.1%, food costs fell 2.8% over the month, making them 23.3% more than they were a year ago.

An increase in the money supply has been a major contributor to inflation. According to central bank data, Egypt’s M2 money supply increased by 29.54% in October compared to the same month last year.

VenturesNow

Nigeria creates N20bn consumer credit fund for domestic automakers

Published

2 days ago

December 9, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an attempt to increase demand for cars built domestically, the Nigerian government has established a N20 billion consumer credit facility programme.

The goal of the programme, which is run by the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (Credicorp), is to keep customer interest rates to single digit.

The fund aims to remove obstacles that consumers face when purchasing cars on credit, according to Credicorp Managing Director/CEO Engr. Uzoma Nwagba, who spoke at the official launch/agreement signing between Credicorp and the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) in Abuja.

Nwagba said that the credit economy contributed to the creation of jobs and wealth for Nigerians as well as to the enhancement of residents’ quality of life.

According to him, the government is dedicated to helping the industry in order to guarantee its expansion and survival. According to him, the N20 billion fund was only the start, and if the initial support proves effective, the government intends to create a larger fund.

Earlier, Mr. Joseph Osanipin, the Director General of NADDC, stated that the industry’s expansion depends on the demand side of the car market being improved.

According to Osanipin, credit programs enable consumers to acquire brand-new cars of their choosing, but in the majority of prosperous nations, people do not pay cash for cars and other autos.

According to him, the program, which covers all types of autos such cars, vans, tricycles, and motorbikes, is available to all Nigerians and involves automakers that produce or assemble their goods entirely domestically.