JSE edges higher on strong financials
July 30, 2018--While the Industrial index lost 0.06%, both the Financials and Resources indices ended up on the day and the rand firmed against the dollar.
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Source: FIN24
IMF Staff Country Reports-South Africa: Selected Issues
July 30, 2018--WHAT LED TO THE DOUBLING OF PUBLIC DEBT IN THE LAST DECADE? WAS DEBT GOOD FOR GROWTH?1
A permanent increase of 4 percentage points of GDP in national government expenditure underlies the doubling of public debt in the last decade. The wage bill accounted for most of the expenditure increase (64 percent), followed by the interest bill (23 percent).
The debt expansion, thus, financed a countercyclical fiscal policy centered on current spending, which likely shielded the impact of subdued economic activity, but had limited permanent effects on growth. Had resources devoted to wage increases and debt service payments been invested in more productive outlays, such as highly productive capital expenditure and reforms in key network industries, the growth gains would have been higher.
view the IMF Staff Country Reports-South Africa: Selected Issues
Source: IMF
Rand stronger in morning session in wake of China investment commitment
July 25, 2018--After rallying Tuesday on news that China had committed to investing $14.7bn in SA, the rand continued to trade stronger on Wednesday, strengthening by 0.4% at noon.
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Source: FIN24
JSE advances as retailers and financials maintain momentum
July 24, 2018--The JSE advanced with blue-chips trading mostly in positive territory as retailers and financials continued to move the local bourse higher.
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Source: FIN24
Nigeria:Stock Market Investors Lose N11 Billion On Trading Floor
July 18, 2018--Continued share price depreciation on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), yesterday pulled the market capitalisation further down by N110 billion.
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Source: allafrica.com
African Trade Report 2018
July 13, 2018-The 2018 edition of the African Export-Import Bank's annual flagship report-the African Trade
Report- titled "Boosting Intra-African Trade: Implications of the African Continental Free
Trade Area Agreement" (the "Report") has been prepared at a time when concerted efforts are
being made across the continent by both sovereign and corporate entities to deepen economic
integration and boost intra-regional trade and cross-border investments.
The report provides
an important insight on the potential benefits of the AfCFTA Agreement in terms of growth,
diversification of sources of growth and exports, development of global value chain, but also
in terms of integration of African countries into the global economy. In particular, the analysis
carried out shows that a complete tariff removal coupled with significant reduction in nontariff
barriers could lift economic growth and raise the volume of exports and imports while
significantly improving the terms of trade across Africa.
view the African Trade Report 2018
Source: The African Export Import Bank
IMF Staff Concludes Visit to Nigeria
July 13, 2018--Higher oil prices and portfolio flows have helped strengthen fiscal and external buffers.
The outlook for 2018 remains challenging, as private sector lending remains low and foreign exchange inflows are mostly short-term.
Action on a coherent set of policies to reduce vulnerabilities and increase growth over the medium term remains urgent.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff team led by Amine Mati, Senior Resident Representative and Mission Chief for Nigeria, visited Nigeria from June 27 to July 9, 2018 to discuss recent economic and financial developments, update macroeconomic projections, and review reform implementation. At the end of the visit, Mr. Mati issued the following statement:
"Higher oil prices and short-term portfolio inflows have provided relief from external and fiscal pressures but the recovery remains challenging. International reserves remained stable at about $47 billion, supported by some convergence in existing foreign exchange windows, and despite some reversal of foreign inflows since April. Inflation declined to its lowest level in more than two years."
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Source: IMF
Softer close for the JSE after bourse erases earlier gains
July 6, 2018--The JSE erased earlier gains to end the day softer as blue-chips lost their earlier momentum.
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Source: FIN24
JSE closes weaker after relatively slow trading session
July 5, 2018--The JSE closed weaker on Thursday following another flat trading session in which the local bourse struggled to find a catalyst for direction.
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Source: FIN24
JSE stages late recovery on firmer Financials
July 4, 2018--The local bourse managed to close firmer despite trading mostly weaker for most of the session.
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Source: FIN24