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Nigeria’s Inflation hits 27.33%

Published

1 year ago

November 15, 2023

Inflation rate has continued its upward movement for the tenth straight month in Nigeria, as the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed.

Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 27.33% in October. It was a 0.61 percentage point increase from the 26.72% that was recorded in September.

The NBS maintained that food and nonalcoholic drinks, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel, clothing and footwear, transportation, furnishings, and upkeep of household appliances and equipment were the main causes of the inflation increase.

According to the statistics bureau, price increases for food and non-alcoholic drinks were the main cause of October’s inflation in terms of annual growth. The majority of Nigeria’s inflation was attributed to food inflation, which increased from 30.64% in September to 31.52% in October.

“Furthermore, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.24 percentage points higher compared to the rate recorded in October 2022, which was 21.09%. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in October 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., October 2022),” the NBS report revealed.

Some observers have noted that the continued rise in inflation adds to the pressure on the new central bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso to raise interest rates when the monetary policy committee meets for the first time since his appointment. Cardoso has pledged to pull the bank back from the much-criticised fiscal interventions pursued under his predecessor, Godwin Emefiele, that some argue undermined the central bank’s ability to effectively manage inflation.

According to Cardoso, the CBN would rather take a “more limited advisory role” in support of the government’s economic growth agenda.

The elimination of petrol subsidies and the depreciation of the official exchange rate have been blamed for the ongoing rise in inflation.

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

12 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.