South Africa trims growth outlook as power crunch takes toll

South Africa trimmed its growth forecast for 2015 to 2.0 percent on Wednesday as chronic electricity shortages strangled economic activity, and the Treasury said that projection could halve if power outages worsened."There is a risk that the economic effect will be even more pronounced," the Treasury said in its 2015 budget review. It also cut its growth projection for 2016 to 2.4 percent, but left its 2017 forecast at 3.0 percent."Electricity constraints hold back growth in manufacturing and mining and also inhibit investment," Finance Minister...

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Nigerian interbank rates rise on tight liquidity

 Nigerian overnight lending rates fell to an average 25 percent on Friday from a record high of 95 percent last week after the central bank retired about 100 billion naira ($502.77 million) in Treasury bills, dealers said.Traders said the repayment of matured Open Market Operation Treasury bills provided some liquidity in the market but not sufficient to lower the rates further because the cash was used up by banks to buy Treasury bills and foreign exchange.The secured Open Buy Back and Overnight rates fell to 25 percent each from 95 percent...

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Nigeria fixes naira at 198/dollar in de facto devaluation

Nigeria's central bank scrapped its bi-weekly currency auctions on Wednesday and a market body said it would sell dollars only at 198 naira, unveiling a de facto devaluation of the currency of Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer. FMDQ, a group comprising Nigeria's main commercial banks and the central bank, said commercial banks had also been banned from re-selling central bank dollars among themselves, another attempt to end speculation in the naira. The currency has lost more than 20 percent in the last three months due to the collapse...

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Nigerian central bank chief pleads for calm as naira tumbles

Nigeria's central bank chief said on Thursday there was "no need to panic" about a slide in the currency, after figures showed the bank had been burning through more than $110 million a day in a vain attempt to defend it. The naira has crashed through the key level of 200 to the dollar this week in a rout sparked by weak oil prices and escalating tension over the postponement of a presidential election in Africa's biggest economy. However, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele said it was "appropriately priced" despite a nearly...

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Nigeria bond sale fails to meet target, investors seek higher yields

Nigeria's bond auction fell short of its target, attracting low interest among investors who were demanding higher yields in the wake of a weaker naira currency and falling oil prices. Failure to reach its target is yet another worrying sign for the government, which is already facing a funding crisis due to the decline in oil revenues and escalating tension over its decision to push a Feb. 14 vote to March 28. Nigeria raised 76.5 billion naira ($375.2 mln) at the bond auction on Wednesday, short of its target amount of 90 billion naira, the Debt...

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Naira trade halted again as Nigeria rout intensifies

Electronic trading in Nigeria's naira was halted for the second day running on Thursday as the currency of Africa's biggest economy continued to crumple due to weak oil prices and escalating tension over this week's delayed election.Shortly after triggering a self-imposed 'circuit-breaker' agreed among themselves last month, dealers said the central bank was ringing round trying to gauge their appetite for dollars in what is turning into a full-scale currency rout. Amid the confusion, the naira was quoted at a new record low of 206.60 to the dollar,...

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Nigeria overnight rate falls from record highs on liquidity boost

Nigeria's overnight interbank lending rate fell to 12 percent on Wednesday from the previous day's record high of 100 percent, after the central bank refunded naira to dealers who were unsuccessful at its dollar auction.Dealers said a 30 billion naira budget allocation to some government agencies was also credited through the banking system, boosting liquidity.Banks' balance with the central bank stood at a credit of 123 billion naira on Wednesday, from 52.3 billion naira in credit previous day. The central bank has been tightening liquidity and...

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Nigerian bond yields seen up on election spending

NIGERIA, Africa's biggest economy hold presidential elections on Feb. 14 and spending by politicians to woo electorates could spill over into the fixed market."The expectation is that yields should be on the upward trend as we move toward election. We are expecting to see an increase in liquidity levels and some of it coming into the bond market," one dealer said.Traders said secondary market trading remained subdued because of uncertainty around the election, while the initial buying of the 2024 tenor debt note by some lenders has declined.Nigeria...

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Nigerian interbank rates rise on CRR withdrawal

Nigerian interbank lending rates climbed 6.5 percentage points on Friday to 15.75 percent on average from 9.25 percent last week, after the central bank debited commercial lenders' account to meet the banks' cash reserves requirement (CRR) this week.Traders said the central bank withdrew about 167 billion naira ($861.7 mln) on Wednesday, draining liquidity.Nigeria's central bank requires commercial lenders to set aside 75 percent of public sector and 15 percent of public sector deposits in liquid cash in their account with it. The regulator debit...

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SPECIAL REPORT-Anatomy of Nigeria’s $20 billion “leak” -Reuters

By Reuters In late 2013, Nigeria's then central bank governor Lamido Sanusi wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan claiming that the state oil company had failed to remit tens of billions of oil revenues it owed the state. After the letter was leaked to Reuters and a local news site, Jonathan publicly dismissed the claim and replaced Sanusi, saying the banker had mismanaged the central bank's budget. A Senate committee later found Sanusi’s account lacked substance. Sanusi has since become Emir of Kano, the country's second highest Islamic authority,...

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Nigeria naira recovers from record low as central bank steps in

Nigeria's naira recovered from a record low to end trading unchanged on Thursday, after the central bank sold dollars to prop up the local currency, dealers said.The naira closed where it opened on Thursday, at 192.70 to the dollar. The currency had fallen to a record low of 194.65 shortly after the market opened, then recovered as the central bank stepped in. It had closed within a range of 190.10 to 192.40 the day before.The central bank has been intervening almost daily in the interbank market since the start of the year. The naira has suffered...

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IMF says its concerns about Ecobank have been addressed

The International Monetary Fund said in a report that poor governance and rushed growth at pan-African lender Ecobank pose serious concerns, but it said in an email on Thursday the concerns it referred to have been addressed.The Fund made its comments about Ecobank, one of the largest financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, in a 98-page report issued on Wednesday about pan-African banks. Ecobank has a presence in 36 African countries and assets of $23 billion.The report also said that Ecobank Nigeria's "relatively weak capital position remains...

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Nigeria raises 192 bln naira in Treasury bills

Nigeria sold 192.39 billion naira worth of treasury bills with maturities of between three months and one year at lower yields compared with its previous auction, the Debt Management Office said on Thursday.It said yields on the 3-month tenor paper attracted 10.98 percent at an auction on Wednesday, 0.22 percentage points lower than 11.20 percent fetched at the last auction on Jan. 21.The yield on the 6-month paper fell 0.29 percent to 13.9 percent against 14.19 percent at the previous auction, while the 1-year paper fetched 14.30 percent, 0.26...

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Nigerian naira ends lower despite central bank intervention

Nigeria's naira ended weaker against the dollar on Wednesday despite the central bank selling U.S. currency towards the close of trading to boost liquidity.The bank has been intervening almost daily in the interbank market since the start of the year as liquidity is very low due to depressed foreign investment as Nigeria's economy has been hit by plunging oil prices. That has sent the naira to record lows.On Wednesday the bank intervened just minutes before the close of trade, sending dealers scrambling to buy dollars from the interbank market...

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Nigerian banks' syndicated borrowing stalls-source

Nigerian banks are pulling back from internationally syndicated dollar loans as falling oil prices and new regulation introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria late last year has pushed up borrowing costs, bankers said. In contrast, international lenders already experiencing excess liquidity and lack of deal flow elsewhere in the CEEMEA region are still keen to lend to Nigerian banks, albeit on a more selective basis. In December, the Central of Nigeria imposed new regulation on Nigerian banks which requires that banks with exposure to the...

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