<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427563" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMF-World-Bank-to-proceed-with-annual-meetings-in-Morocco-in-October-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct 10 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Senior executives at multilateral development banks will meet on Wednesday with the top credit ratings agencies, bank executives said, amid a broad push to expand their lending capacity and help countries brace for climate change and other challenges.



The closed-door meeting will address how to value callable capital &#8211; a commitment from shareholders to step in during extreme circumstances — in the banks&#8217; capital adequacy frameworks, Roberta Casali, vice president for risk at the Asian Development Bank, told a Rockefeller Foundation event on Tuesday. It will be the fourth such meeting this year, she said.



The World Bank&#8217;s main lending arms could expand their lending capacity by nearly $900 billion if the ratings agencies changed their processes and modified the allowance they make for callable capital, a study commissioned by Rockefeller found.



Lakshmi Shyam-Sunder, the World Bank&#8217;s chief risk officer, said the ratings agencies had shown some openness to considering revisions in how they treat callable capital in the banks&#8217; balance sheets.



&#8220;They are beginning to change their tune,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We&#8217;re now seeing a more open-minded willingness to consider changes in their methodology.&#8221;



The key to the multilateral development banks&#8217; strategy to boost lending is to preserve their AAA credit ratings, which enable them to borrow at low rates and pass on the savings to developing countries.



Casali said Wednesday&#8217;s meeting, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Morocco, would include officials from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the&nbsp;African Development Bank, along with the three top credit raters &#8211; Moody&#8217;s, Standard &amp; Poor&#8217;s and Fitch.



Earlier on Tuesday, World Bank President Ajay Banga told Reuters that the rules governing how pledged capital can be called in times of stress are &#8220;very loose&#8221; and need a &#8220;clear and tangible process&#8221; to reassure ratings agencies.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday said Treasury has asked the multilateral development banks to prioritize incorporating &#8220;a prudent share&#8221; of callable capital into their capital adequacy frameworks, as part of broader reforms aimed at expanding funding options to help developing countries amid a worsening climate crisis.



Experts say developing and emerging economies need $2.4 trillion per year to meet global climate challenges.



Currently, the ratings agencies apply widely different rules and standards in assessing the risks associated with the banks&#8217; lending and balance sheets.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler)

FILE PHOTO: The IMF logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington

Multilateral development banks, keen to expand lending, to meet with ratings agencies

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="485" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5K52FDSDWFNOJEMWHZY6GIWIVY.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-420053" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5K52FDSDWFNOJEMWHZY6GIWIVY.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5K52FDSDWFNOJEMWHZY6GIWIVY-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5K52FDSDWFNOJEMWHZY6GIWIVY-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The International Monetary Fund logo is seen at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct 10 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Sub-Saharan&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s economic growth will shrink for a second year in a row in 2023 before rebounding in 2024, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday in a report in which it cut its forecasts for economic expansion.



Growth in the region is expected to fall to 3.3% this year from 4% last year, before rebounding to 4% in 2024, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report.



That is slightly lower than the IMF predicted in July, when it said Sub-Saharan&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;would grow 3.5% in 2023 and 4.1% next year.



Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, after COVID-19 had already dealt the global economy a heavy blow, sent food, fuel and fertiliser prices soaring in&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;last year. Weakening currencies, higher debt service costs and restricted access to capital markets added to debt pressures.



The 2023 growth forecast for oil producer Angola was slashed from an April projection of 3.5% to 1.3%, while Nigeria&#8217;s was trimmed from 3.2% to 2.9%. South&nbsp;Africa, whose economy is hobbled by record power cuts, will grow just 0.9% this year.



Kenya&#8217;s growth will accelerate 5% this year, the IMF said, up from 4.8% in 2022, despite its government cutting budgets amid soaring debt costs. Tanzania and Senegal are also set to see higher growth this year.



Annual inflation across the region, which has seen violent protests against the cost of living in countries including Ghana and Kenya, is expected to be 16.2% at the end of this year.



That would be the same as 12 months earlier, the IMF said, before it falls to 10.5% at the end of next year.



(Reporting by Rachel Savage and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Alison Williams and Alexander Smith)

FILE PHOTO: The International Monetary Fund logo is seen at IMF headquarters in Washington

IMF lowers Sub-Saharan Africa growth forecasts

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="546" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-820x546.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428061" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-820x546.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Robotic arms assemble cars in the production line for Leapmotor&#8217;s electric vehicles at a factory in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China, April 26, 2023. China Daily via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct 10 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its growth forecasts for China and the euro area and said overall global growth remained low and uneven despite what it called the &#8220;remarkable strength&#8221; of the U.S. economy.



The IMF left its forecast for global real GDP growth in 2023 unchanged at 3.0% in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), but cut its 2024 forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 2.9% from its July forecast. World output grew 3.5% in 2022.



IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told reporters the global economy continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine and last year&#8217;s energy crisis, but growth trends were increasingly divergent across the globe, and prospects for medium-term growth were &#8220;mediocre.&#8221;



Gourinchas said the forecasts generally pointed to a soft landing, but the IMF remained concerned about risks related to the real estate crisis in China, volatile commodity prices, geopolitical fragmentation, and a resurgence in inflation.



A fresh unexpected risk emerged in the form of the Israel-Palestinian conflict just as finance officials from 190 countries gathered in Marrakech for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank,&nbsp;but came after the IMF&#8217;s quarterly outlook update was locked down on Sept. 26.



Gourinchas told Reuters it was too early to say how the major escalation in the long-running conflict would affect the global economy: &#8220;Depending how the situation might unfold, there are many very different scenarios that we have not even yet started to explore, so we can&#8217;t make any assessment at this point yet.&#8221;



Stronger growth is being throttled by the lingering impact of the pandemic, Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine and increasing fragmentation, along with rising interest rates, extreme weather events and shrinking fiscal support, the IMF said. Total global output in 2023 is slated to be 3.4%, or roughly $3.6 trillion, below pre-pandemic projections.



&#8220;The global economy is showing resilience. It&#8217;s not knocked out by the big shocks it&#8217;s experienced in the last two or three years, but it&#8217;s not doing too great either,&#8221; Gourinchas told Reuters in an interview.&nbsp;&#8220;We see a global economy that is limping along and it&#8217;s not quite sprinting yet.&#8221;



The medium-term outlook is no better. The IMF is projecting growth of 3.1% in 2028, well below the 4.9% five-year forecast it had on the eve of the global financial crisis in 2008-2009.



&#8220;You have uncertainty. You have geoeconomic fragmentation, low productivity growth, and low demographics. You put all these things together and you have a slowdown in medium-term growth,&#8221; he told Reuters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-not-quite-there-on-inflation">NOT QUITE THERE ON INFLATION</h2>



Inflation continued to decline around the globe due to a fall in energy prices and to a lesser extent food prices. It is expected to drop to an annual average of 6.9% in 2023, from 8.7% in 2022, and to 5.8% in 2024.



Core inflation, excluding food and energy prices, is coming down more gradually, and should drop to 6.3% in 2023, from 6.4% in 2022, and to 5.3% in 2024, given still-tight labor markets and stickier-than-expected services inflation, the IMF said.



&#8220;We&#8217;re not quite there,&#8221; Gourinchas said in a separate meeting with reporters, adding the IMF was warning monetary authorities not to ease interest rates too soon.



Labor markets were generally quite buoyant and unemployment rates were at historical lows in most advanced economies, but there was not much evidence of a wage-price spiral that could trigger a second round of price inflation,&nbsp;even with a major strike by U.S. autoworkers in the United States.



&#8220;We&#8217;re not seeing strong signs of an out-of-control sequence of wages chasing prices and prices chasing wages,&#8221; he said.



The IMF said uncertainty had narrowed considerably since its April forecasts were released, but there were still more downside than upside risks for 2024. The chance of growth falling below 2% &#8211; which has only occurred five times since 1970 &#8211; was now seen at 15%, compared with 25% in April.



The IMF noted that investment was uniformly lower than before the pandemic, with businesses showing less appetite for expansion and risk-taking amid rising interest rates, withdrawal of fiscal support and stricter lending conditions.



Gourinchas said the fund was advising countries to remain vigilant on monetary policy until inflation was durably coming down toward targets, while urging them to rebuild thin fiscal buffers to address future challenges or shocks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-us-growth-beating-pre-pandemic-forecasts">US GROWTH BEATING PRE-PANDEMIC FORECASTS</h2>



The IMF raised its forecast for growth in the United States, the world&#8217;s largest economy, by 0.3 percentage point to 2.1% for 2023, and by 0.5 percentage point to 1.5% for next year, citing stronger business investment and growing consumption. That makes the U.S. the only major economy to beat pre-pandemic forecasts.



In China, by contrast, GDP was expected to expand 5.0% in 2023 and 4.2% in 2024, reflecting respective downward revisions of 0.2 and 0.3 percentage point, mainly due to the country&#8217;s real estate crisis and weak external demand.



Gourinchas said &#8220;forceful action&#8221; was needed in China to clean up the real estate sector and while authorities had taken some steps, more work was needed. &#8220;If that doesn&#8217;t happen, then there is a chance that that problem could fester and become worse,&#8221; he said.



The IMF also cut its growth estimates for the euro area to 0.7% in 2023 and 1.2% in 2024, down from respective July forecasts of 0.9% and 1.5%.



The UK, which like the euro area has been hit hard by the shock of high energy prices, saw its growth forecast raised by 0.1 percentage point to 0.5% for 2023, but cut by 0.4 percentage point to 0.6% for 2024.



Japan is expected to see growth of 2.0% in 2023, a 0.6 percentage point upward revision, buoyed by pent-up demand, a surge in inbound tourism, its accommodative monetary policy and a rebound in auto exports, the IMF said. It left Japan&#8217;s 2024 growth outlook unchanged at 1.0%.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

MXX5ZK4ZHFIZXDB32HX222DIAQ-1

IMF says global economy ‘limping along,’ cuts growth forecast for China, euro area

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427965" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/T3W5NFLWNZJCREP42S26XTHK44-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A general view of damage following a powerful earthquake in Amizmiz, Morocco, September 9, 2023. REUTERS/Abdelhak Balhaki</figcaption></figure>



MARRAKECH, Morocco, Oct 5 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Moroccans living just an hour from where the global financial elite will gather for&nbsp;IMF and World Bank&nbsp;meetings next week are homeless and destitute after last month&#8217;s deadly earthquake, camping amid the rubble of their devastated villages.



Near the conference venue in the city of&nbsp;Marrakech, where quake damage was less severe, the old city wall has already been repaired, a fallen minaret has been covered up, rubble has been removed, lawns trimmed and flowers planted.



But in the&nbsp;High Atlas mountains&nbsp;where most of the quake&#8217;s 3,000 victims were killed, villagers live in tents with little access to showers or working toilets, surviving on state handouts while they try to resurrect their shattered lives.



The vivid contrast&nbsp;reflects inequalities&nbsp;that already defined a country that has some of Africa&#8217;s most advanced infrastructure and industry, but where many of the rural poor live without basic services including sewage systems.



A single night in a twin bedroom at Marrakech&#8217;s historic La Mamounia hotel during the IMF meeting was advertised this week at 20,000 Moroccan dirhams ($1,900). Average annual GDP per capita among people living in this region is only about $2,000.



When the quake struck remote Imi N&#8217;Tala &#8220;it was like a bomb&#8221; said Omar Ait Ougadir, who lost his two sons Khaled, 14, and Taoufiq, 10, in the disaster, among a total of 84 killed in their village. Ait Ougadir&#8217;s wife and daughter survived.



&#8220;I don&#8217;t know what we&#8217;ll do when it snows,&#8221; he lamented, as he collected wood from fallen houses to build a hut next to the yellow tent among the trees outside the village where they swelter by day and freeze at night.



Most houses in Imi N&#8217;Tala were either destroyed or badly damaged, with a landslide blocking the only road for a week. The villagers must share four toilet cubicles that were still unconnected to the water supply when Reuters visited this week.



Authorities have promised compensation for quake victims including a monthly stipend of $250 per household and thousands of dollars to rebuild fallen homes. They have distributed tents and blankets, set up field hospitals and are removing rubble.



The government plans to invest $12 billion in&nbsp;reconstruction&nbsp;and infrastructure over five years in the quake-ravaged region. The IMF last week approved a&nbsp;$1.32 billion loan, requested before the quake, to guard against climate-related disasters.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tourism-return">TOURISM RETURN</h2>



More than 10,000 people are expected to attend the IMF and World Bank meeting at the direct request of&nbsp;Morocco&#8217;s government, and fund spokesperson Julie Kozack said Rabat had given assurances the conference would not disrupt relief work.



The annual meeting had been scheduled to take place in Marrakech since long before the earthquake and is expected to address global issues including debt relief for poorer countries and economic fallout from friction between the U.S. and China.



The meeting is now seen as important for&nbsp;drawing back tourists&nbsp;to Morocco, supporting a sector that is crucial for picturesque Marrakech and the surrounding areas that were hit by the quake.



At the city&#8217;s famous Jemaa al-Fna square, where locals and tourists crowd past street entertainers and market stalls, juice maker Hamid Ben Addi said he hoped the meetings would help bring back visitors.



&#8220;Business was a bit sluggish but now thank God normal life is gradually resuming,&#8221; he said.



About 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Marrakech, normal life is also gradually returning to the town of Amizmiz, with cafes and restaurants serving customers in damaged buildings although debris still sometimes falls from roofs and ceilings.



Issam Mazgouti lives in one of the hundreds of tents dotted around the town with his wife and six children after their home collapsed.



He said the biggest problem that quake survivors currently face is sanitation &#8211; a problem also voiced by Ait Ougadir in the village of Imi N&#8217;Tala, who said he had only been able to shower once since the earthquake.



Mazgouti said his family was one of about 100 households that had to share two toilet cabins and a single tap of water.



&#8220;Men go outside, leaving the two toilets for the women, who have to suffer very long queues day and night,&#8221; he said.



(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi and Abdulhak Balhaki; Writing by Angus McDowallEditing by Gareth Jones)

Aftermath of a powerful earthquake in Morocco

Marrakech prepares for IMF and World Bank meeting a month after deadly quake

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="517" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-820x517.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-416545" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-820x517.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-300x189.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-143x90.jpeg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-768x484.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-1536x969.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund &#8211; World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018.
Johannes Christo | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



The World Bank says Sub-Saharan African growth may drop by as much as a percentage point this year, hit by rising instability, weak growth in its biggest countries and worsening global economic uncertainty.



In its latest Africa’s Pulse report, the bank forecasts real gross domestic product will decelerate to 2.5% in 2023, from 3.6% in 2022. This as Africa’s most industrialized nation, South Africa, is expected to expand by 0.5% in 2023, stunted by energy and logistical bottlenecks. The region’s biggest oil producing nations, Nigeria and Angola, are projected to grow at 2.9% and 1.3% respectively, due to lower international prices and currency pressures affecting oil and non-oil activity.



“The region’s poorest and most vulnerable people continue to bear the economic brunt of this slowdown, as weak growth translates into slow poverty reduction and poor job growth,” Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa said in a statement accompanying the report.



Africa’s commodity-dependent economies are taking the brunt of lower metal prices as global growth slows after the U.S. Federal Reserve jacked up interest rates to combat the highest inflation in close to four decades. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also increased geo-political tensions and destabilized global supply chains and trade flows.



The bank says in per capita terms, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has not increased since 2015 and the region runs the risk that the average annual growth rate per capita may contract by 0.1% over the 2015-2025 decade, thus potentially marking for a lost decade.



More than half of the region&#8217;s countries &#8211; 28 out of 48 &#8211; have seen their 2023 growth forecasts revised downward from the World Bank&#8217;s April estimates.



However the inflation picture is improving, the bank said, forecasting average consumer prices may decline to 9.3% in 2022 to 7.3% in 2023. It says fiscal balances are also looking healthier in African countries pursuing prudent and coordinated macroeconomic policies.



Key to bolstering a turnaround in the region’s growth prospects and create jobs for its millions of youth will be reforms to enable the growth of the private sector, investment in education and the prioritization of girls and women in economic activity, the report says.



 “The urgency of the jobs challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa is underscored by the huge opportunity from demographic transitions that we have seen in other regions,” said Nicholas Woolley, World Bank Economist and contributor to the report. “This will require an ecosystem that facilitates private-sector development and firm growth, as well as skill development that matches business demand.”

106944604-16321717072021-09-20t205319z_656748898_rc2wtp9oerrm_rtrmadp_0_worldbank-ethics-report

World Bank Says Sub-Saharan Africa Growth to Slow to 2.5% This Year

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408693" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-120x80.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A sign stands at the entrance to the offices of Anglo American Plc in the Marshalltown district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday, Oct. 26, 2012. Anglo American Plc Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll , the first woman, external hire and non-South African to hold the job, will quit after Anglo lost $14 billion in value in the more than five years she was in charge. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Oct 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Anglo American said it is cutting corporate office jobs across several countries, as unions said its South African iron ore business plans to lay off scores of workers at its head office.



The global mining giant had started reorganising its operations in May, a spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday.



&#8220;We expect a potential reduction in corporate office roles across a number of countries,&#8221; the spokesperson added, without giving further details of the size or location of the cuts.



Livhuwani Mammburu, spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers, earlier told Reuters that Anglo&#8217;s&nbsp;AAL.L&nbsp;Kumba Iron Ore&nbsp;KIOJ.J&nbsp;plans to cut 183 jobs, mostly at its head office, as it faces challenges in moving sufficient volumes to ports as a result of rail constraints in South Africa.



The job cuts could be pared back to about 141 if the restructuring plan is successful, Mammburu said, adding the labour group opposed the plans.



&#8220;Kumba said it&#8217;s embarking on a restructuring and the main reasons they are giving is they are not able to transport more iron ore to the port due to the problems with Transnet,&#8221; Mammburu said, referring to the state-owned logistics company.



The miner&#8217;s iron ore exports have been throttled by frequent disruptions, often caused by locust swarms, on the rail line operated by Transnet. The disruptions have recently been worsened by cable thefts and derailments.



As a result, Kumba has been forced to stockpile more iron ore at mines. Kumba&#8217;s profit in the six months through June fell by 17% due to the rail challenges and softer prices.



(Reporting by Felix Njini and Nelson Banya; Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark Potter and Alexander Smith)

Anglo American Plc’s South African Headquarters As CEO Cynthia Carroll Quits

Anglo American cutting head office jobs in several countries

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419915" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1240090144-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The World Bank Group headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its world growth forecast by the most since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, and projected even faster inflation, after Russia invaded Ukraine and China renewed virus lockdowns. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;High interest rates, growing investor risk aversion and borrowing that ballooned in recent years have left a range of developing economies mired in debt crises. Helping them claw out of this will be a key agenda item at the annual IMF and World Bank meetings in Morocco&#8217;s tourist hub of Marrakech which kicks off next week.



Below is a look at countries facing debt troubles, listed in alphabetical order.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-egypt">EGYPT</h2>



North Africa&#8217;s largest economy needs to repay some $100 billion of hard-currency debt over the next five years. Cairo currently spends over 40% of revenues on interest payments; financing needs for fiscal 2023/204 stand at $24 billion.



Egypt has a $3 billion IMF programme and has devalued the pound by roughly 50% since February 2022. But a $2 billion privatisation plan has been slow, and it has delayed the removal of electricity subsidies.



Elections, scheduled for December, lower the chances of painful reforms, analysts said, and support from wealthy Gulf nations is key to ensuring financing needs are met.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ethiopia">ETHIOPIA</h2>



The COVID-19 pandemic hammered Ethiopia&#8217;s economy, and a two-year civil war from November 2020 heightened the pain with the country losing duty-free access to the U.S. amid rights abuse allegations.



Ethiopia requested a restructuring in early 2021 under the G20 Common Framework &#8211; set up during the pandemic to try to streamline debt overhauls.



In August, China allowed partial debt payment suspension. Last month ratings agency Moody&#8217;s changed Ethiopia&#8217;s outlook to stable from negative on expectations of quick progress through the Common Framework.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ghana">GHANA</h2>



Ghana defaulted on most external debt in late 2022 amidst its worst economic crisis in a generation, becoming the fourth country to seek a rework under the Common Framework.



Its progress in restructuring both domestic debt and $30 billion in external debt has been fairly swift and it secured a $3 billion IMF bailout in May.



Ghana&#8217;s finance minister has said he expects to reach a deal with international bondholders by year-end. Still, protesters have taken to the streets of Accra recently over rising living costs, unemployment and economic hardship.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-kenya">KENYA</h2>



The East African nation&#8217;s public debt stood at 67.4% of GDP at the end of 2022, according to the World Bank, putting it at high risk of debt distress.



President William Ruto&#8217;s government has moderated spending and proposed a raft of tax hikes, assuaging some concerns over imminent default. But surging oil prices have boosted inflation, and the currency has lost more than 16% against the dollar this year, casting doubt on his ability to press on with reforms.



Kenya, which has to repay a $2 billion eurobond next year, is in talks with both the African Development Bank and the World Bank for budgetary support.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lebanon">LEBANON</h2>



Lebanon has been in default since 2020 with few signs it will resolve its economic meltdown anytime some.



The IMF last month welcomed central bank changes, including phasing out a controversial exchange platform and curbing monetary financing of the government. But it said deeper reforms were needed amid the country&#8217;s &#8220;difficult and unstable&#8221; outlook.



The IMF has warned that if the status quo continues, public debt could reach 547% of GDP by 2027.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pakistan">PAKISTAN</h2>



Pakistan needs upwards of $22 billion to service external debt and pay bills for fiscal year 2024. A caretaker administration is in charge with elections scheduled for January. Inflation and interest rates are at historic highs, and it is struggling to rebuild from devastating 2022 floods.



In June, it reached an 11th-hour deal for a $3 billion IMF bridge loan. Saudi Arabia and the UAE followed with a total of $3 billion cash infusions.



Reserves by end-September were enough to make it to elections but there are questions how long it will be able to avoid default without huge support, observers say.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sri-lanka">SRI LANKA</h2>



Sri Lanka defaulted on international debt in May 2022 after the pandemic drained its tourism-dependent economy of crucial cash to pay for imported food, fuel and medicine.



The crisis-hit island nation announced a debt overhaul plan at the end of June and has continued to make progress.



But the parties continue to spar over how much of a hit domestic banks and investors in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should take. The next tranche of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout package could be delayed over a potential government revenue shortfall.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tunisia">TUNISIA</h2>



Multiple shocks since a 2011 revolution have pressed the North African nation into a full-blown economic crisis.



Most debt is internal, but a $500 million eurobond matures this month, and credit ratings agencies have said Tunisia could default.



President Kais Saied has slammed the terms required to unlock a $1.9 billion IMF loan as &#8220;diktats&#8221; and rejected 127 million from the European Union as too small.



The tourist season narrowed the current account deficit and Saudi Arabia pledged $500 million in support. But citizens continue to grapple with food and medicine shortages.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ukraine">UKRAINE</h2>



Ukraine froze debt payments after Russia&#8217;s invasion in 2022, and said it is likely to decide early next year whether to try to extend that agreement or begin looking at alternatives.



Top institutions estimate the post-war rebuild cost will be at least 1 trillion euros, and the IMF estimates Ukraine needs $3-$4 billion a month to keep the country running.



Recently, the economy has shown signs of recovery, with inflation slowing and business sentiment improving. But political shifts elsewhere &#8211; including the United States &#8211; have cast doubt on the durability of international support.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-zambia">ZAMBIA</h2>



The first African country to default during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zambia&#8217;s years of restructuring delays made it a symbol of the problems with the Common Framework.



A repair plan finally appeared imminent after Zambia clinched a $6.3 billion debt rework deal with the Paris Club creditor nations and China, its other big bilateral lender, in June. Zambia expects to finalise a debt memorandum by year-end.



($1 = 323.5000 Sri Lankan rupees)



(Reporting By Libby George; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

IMF And World Bank Headquarters During Virtual Spring Meetings

Developing countries facing a debt crunch

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427887" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/OE2LCFDS7FPTLDBCRCJRUB7UIQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The logo and trading information for Lazard Ltd appear on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Countries going through a sovereign default need a debt rework mechanism that grants timely relief, even if that means finding a solution outside the G20&#8217;s programme, an executive at Lazard&#8217;s sovereign advisory team said.



As adviser to the governments of Ghana, Zambia and Sri Lanka, Lazard plays a key role in a number of critical debt restructurings at a time when emerging markets more widely face renewed pressure from growing debt burdens and rising global borrowing costs.



The G20 Common Framework &#8211; a mechanism designed to provide a swift and comprehensive debt overhaul to poor nations buckling under debt burdens after the COVID-19 shock &#8211; was launched by the G20 in late 2020. Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia are currently reworking their debt under the programme, which has been widely criticised for slow progress that has left countries in limbo.



Meanwhile Sri Lanka, too wealthy to qualify for the framework, has seen comparatively swifter progress so far in its debt overhaul.



&#8220;If the choice is between three years in the Common Framework process or a year and a half in an ad-hoc process, I would much prefer the ad-hoc process,&#8221; Pierre Cailleteau, a managing director at Lazard, told Reuters in an interview.



&#8220;Clearly what matters for our government clients is to have in place a mechanism that really helps them strike a deal and move on,&#8221; he said.



Analysts have blamed in part the increase in the number of different creditors that debt-distressed countries now need to negotiate with, from Chinese policy and commercial banks, to international and in some cases local bondholders.



But countries signing up to the programme might have also overestimated the degree to which creditors and other parties in the process were aligned, said Cailleteau.



&#8220;The Common Framework was originally presented as if there was a full agreement behind it and a complete understanding of what it entailed. That I don’t think is true,&#8221; he said.



&#8220;From the beginning there were different interpretations, different degrees of commitment, different understanding of the rules that should apply.&#8221;



A number of efforts have been made to streamline and quicken debt restructuring proceedings. The Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable was launched late last year and held meetings in February, April and September.



Another meeting of the roundtable &#8211; which brings together official and private creditors as well as governments and international lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) &#8211; is scheduled for the World Bank IMF annual meeting in Morocco which kicks off next week.



While the Common Framework might eventually evolve to become that smooth and swift mechanism, in the interim a pragmatic but principled solution would have to be found to bring countries&#8217; debt back to sustainable levels as prescribed by the IMF, Cailleteau said.



&#8220;That’s ok, even if it’s not under the aegis of the Common Framework.&#8221;



(Reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario, Karin Strohecker and Rachel Savage, editing by Susan Fenton)

The logo and trading information for Lazard Ltd appear on a screen on the floor at theNYSE in New York

Top adviser Lazard says countries need debt mechanism to ‘strike a deal and move on’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="357" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400669" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1-300x175.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance</figcaption></figure>



Oct 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Emerging market stocks slid to a near seven-month low on Tuesday as worries about higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates gained steam, though Hungary&#8217;s forint got a lift from a report that the European Union would free up some funding for the country.



MSCI&#8217;s index tracking emerging market equities&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;tumbled 1.0% to its lowest level since mid-March, while currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;fell 0.2% against the dollar by 8:57 GMT.



Risk sentiment across markets took a dip with U.S Treasury yields hitting 16-year highs on robust economic data and as several U.S. Federal Reserve officials cautioned monetary policy will need to stay tight for a while.



In Asia, Hong Kong&#8217;s main stock index .HIS tumbled 2.7% as investors returned to markets following a public holiday, with shares of Evergrande3333.HK jumping 28.1% in volatile trade, after being suspended last Thursday amid news of a probe into the embattled developer&#8217;s chairman.



Turkey&#8217;s lira TRYTOM=D3 traded at 27.5 to the dollar after data showed annual consumer price inflation in September climbed to 61.53%, just below expectations and rising for a third consecutive month in response to recent tax hikes and lira weakness.



The modest rise in inflation &#8220;provides the first signs that the inflation spike is close to levelling off,&#8221; said William Jackson, Chief Emerging Markets Economist at Capital Economics in a note.



&#8220;But the central bank’s work isn’t over and we still expect a further 1,000bp of interest rate hikes by early next year.&#8221;



In central and eastern Europe, the Hungarian forintEURHUF= was up 0.2% against the euro after a report said the European Commission intends to unfreeze funding of about 13 billion euros ($13.61 billion) to the country before the end of November.



The funding had been suspended due to long-running disputes with Brussels.



Poland&#8217;s zloty&nbsp;EURPLN=&nbsp;was up 0.1% ahead of a local monetary policy decision on Wednesday, where most economists expect a 25 basis points interest rate cut.



Focus was also on Ukraine after its central bank said it would bring in a more flexible exchange rate from Tuesday, relaxing the official peg it has had throughout the war with Russia in a move to boost the economy. The Ukranian hryvnia UAH= was up 0.9% against the dollar.



Elsewhere, Indonesia&#8217;s central bank has intervened in the foreign exchange market to manage the supply and demand of U.S. dollars, an official told Reuters on Tuesday. The rupiah IDR= slipped 0.3%.



(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar, editing by Deborah Kyvrikosaios)

World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance

Stocks tumble to near 7-month low, Forint gains on EU funds report

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="551" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LM7NCFZJYRK3TMIISMQRT2EK2I-820x551.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427855" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LM7NCFZJYRK3TMIISMQRT2EK2I-820x551.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LM7NCFZJYRK3TMIISMQRT2EK2I-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LM7NCFZJYRK3TMIISMQRT2EK2I-134x90.jpg 134w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LM7NCFZJYRK3TMIISMQRT2EK2I-768x516.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/LM7NCFZJYRK3TMIISMQRT2EK2I.jpg 1446w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Cocoa plants are pictured at a plantation managed by the Schmidt Agricola farming group in Bahia state, Brazil, in this undated handout photo received on September 25, 2023. Moises Almeida Schmidt/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Schmidt Agricola is a large agricultural company producing soybeans, corn and cotton in Bahia, Brazil, one of the country&#8217;s new-frontier agricultural areas fit for large-scale, high-tech farming. It recently added a new crop to its fields: cocoa.



Production of the chocolate-making ingredient is expanding outside of the main growing area in West&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;as farmers in places such Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia see potential profit in the crop.



The rally in prices to the highest level in nearly 50 years is boosting that trend, which could alleviate the current supply tightness in the global cocoa market. It also poses a threat to the livelihood of small farmers in Africa since recently planted orchards such as the ones in South America are more productive, reducing the overall cost of production.



As environmental concerns rise globally, the fact that cocoa is a native species from the Amazon region makes planting it in South America a type of reforestation, while in Africa native forests are being razed to open space for cocoa orchards.



Brazil &#8211; an agricultural powerhouse and the top global exporter of soy, corn, coffee and sugar &#8211; has seen cocoa plantations spreading over degraded pastureland in the Amazon region, as well as in large farms in the highly developed grain belt.



The country was once the second only to Ivory Coast in cocoa production, but a devastating fungus in the 1980&#8217;s known as Witches&#8217; Broom sharply reduced production. Nearly four decades later, crops are recovering.



Brazil&#8217;s government projects output could grow to 300,000 metric tons by 2025 and to 400,000 tons by 2030, from around 200,000 tons currently,&nbsp;which would turn the country from a net importer to a regular exporter of the commodity.



In Ecuador, annual production has risen to between 400,000 and 430,000 tons in 2022-2023 (Oct-Sept) from 287,000 tons five years ago, according to estimates by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) and Ecuador&#8217;s exporting group Anecacao.



Ecuador has become the third largest global grower, behind Ghana which produces around 750,000 tons. The top grower is Ivory Coast with 2.2 million tons.



Anecacao, which last July received record attendance of around 70 buyers from Asia, the United States and Europe for a trade and expo conference in Guayaquil, estimates production could continue to grow to as much as 800,000 tons by 2030.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-large-scale-farming">LARGE-SCALE FARMING</h2>



Some of the new plantings in South America look huge when compared to the small holdings in&nbsp;Africa. Most producers in Ivory Coast and Ghana have around 5 hectares.



Schmidt Agricola has planted 429 hectares with cocoa, fully irrigated.



&#8220;I believe that the new profile of cocoa production will be large-scale,&#8221; said Moises Schmidt, one of the owners.



&#8220;You will need technology, you need to seek higher yields to be more profitable. Grains and fiber (cotton) will continue to be the main crops for us, but we see cocoa gaining more area in the next five years.&#8221;



High-tech, irrigated areas such as Schmidt&#8217;s have produced as much as 3,000 kg of dry cocoa beans per hectare (ha), while the new areas in Brazil&#8217;s Amazonian state of Para produce around 2,000 kg/ha.



That is much higher than the Ivory Coast&#8217;s average yield pf 500 to 600 kg/ha, which is similar to Ecuador. Ghana&#8217;s is smaller at around 400 kg/ha.



Jeroen Douglas, director of the Netherlands-based non-profit Solidaridad, which targets more sustainable supply chains, sees Brazil&#8217;s role in the market growing, in the same way it has with other agricultural commodities such as soy and corn.



&#8220;On Brazil, once the mindset is: &#8216;yes, we want to get into this commodity&#8217;, there&#8217;s no way of stopping them. That mindset is not there yet, but I think we are getting to a tipping point,&#8221; Douglas said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-back-to-farming">BACK TO FARMING</h2>



Brazil&#8217;s Amazonian state of Para is undergoing a revival in cocoa growing.



&#8220;There are people coming back to the farms, people that left in the past to try jobs in towns,&#8221; said producer Jose Garcia, who farms cocoa on 70 hectares (172 acres) that used to be pasture in the municipality of Medicilandia, Para state.



Those new orchards in the Amazon region would have an advantage in the European market since new EU legislation restricts commodity imports from areas that have been deforested for planting crops.



&#8220;If you plant cocoa trees there (Amazon region), it is considered reforestation,&#8221; said Douglas.



He said that a reforestation project with cocoa, along with other trees, is part of strategies underway to strengthen the Amazon canopy.



Organizations such as UN&#8217;s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD),&nbsp;on the other side, seek to preserve the market share of small farmers, including&nbsp;African cocoa producers.



IFAD&#8217;s head Alvaro Lario said it was important for smallholders to improve productivity, distribution and marketing. The agency organizes training on agricultural techniques to increase production per hectare.



A broker at an international commodities trader, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic, believes that chocolate companies are willing to source more cocoa away from&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;due to sustainability issues related not only to deforestation, but also to child labor.



&#8220;They (companies) are tired of trying to defend their business there, and certainly considering moving some of that business elsewhere&#8221;, the trader said.



(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira in New York; additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in London. Editing by Simon Webb and Anna Driver)

Cocoa plants are pictured at a plantation managed by the Schmidt Agricola farming group in Bahia state

Farmers plant more cocoa outside Africa as prices rally

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-404443" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling.jpg 1254w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macro view of a screen of trading terminal with abstract financial graph and digits. Trading and forex concept. 3D Rendering</figcaption></figure>



Oct 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Emerging market equities edged higher on Monday after a brutal third quarter marked by fears of U.S. interest rates staying elevated for longer, while investors assessed a slew of upbeat business activity reports from the region.



MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market (EM) stocks&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;rose 0.1% by 8:29 GMT, on the first trading day of the final quarter of 2023.



The index suffered its biggest quarterly percentage loss in a year during the July-September period, weighed down by the Federal Reserve&#8217;s hawkish stance as well as renewed fears about China&#8217;s property sector debts.



The World Bank maintained its forecast for China&#8217;s 2023 economic growth at 5.1% but trimmed its prediction for 2024, citing persistent property sector weakness.



Markets in mainland China remained closed for the week-long National Day holiday.



The passage of a stopgap funding bill over the weekend which averted a U.S. government shutdown gave a lift to markets on Monday, and some analysts see further reasons for optimism in the near term.



&#8220;The authorities in China will continue to gradually add stimulus, which we expect to stabilize the economy later this quarter, while for the U.S. we do not expect any further rate hikes, although of course, &#8216;higher for longer&#8217; is a risk, especially for EM local debt,&#8221; said Jon Harrison, managing director of emerging market macro strategy at TS Lombard.



Among currencies, the Russian rouble RUBUTSTN=MCX came off a near-seven-week low of 98.71 versus the dollar after data showed the country&#8217;s manufacturing activity grew at its fastest pace in more than six years in September.



Most currencies in central and eastern Europe also held firm against the euro. The Hungarian forint EURHUF= outpaced peers, rising 0.6% against the euro, as data showed seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers&#8217; Index edged up to 47.4 in September



The Polish zloty EURPLN= gained 0.3% after a report signalled softening declines in the country&#8217;s manufacturing sector.



The Turkish lira TRYTOM=D3 was flat against the dollar. The country&#8217;s Purchasing Managers&#8217; Index for the manufacturing sector rose to 49.6 last month from 49.0 in August.



Broader EM currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;fell 0.1% against a firm dollar with the yen&nbsp;JPY=EBS&nbsp;at a near one-year low.



Elsewhere, Credit Suisse has reached an 11th-hour out-of-court settlement with Mozambique over the decade-old, $1.5- billion-plus &#8220;tuna bond&#8221; scandal, the Swiss bank&#8217;s new owner UBS UBSG.S said on Sunday.



(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; editing by Mark Heinrich)

Stocks inch up on first day of Q4, investors assess PMI data

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="350" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1040865674-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400879" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1040865674-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1040865674-612x612-1-300x172.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Stock market report. 3d illustration</figcaption></figure>



Sept 26 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Concerns over U.S. monetary policy and growing jitters about China&#8217;s property sector pushed stocks in emerging markets to a six-month low on Tuesday, while investors awaited another likely rate cut by Hungary.



MSCI&#8217;s index for emerging market (EM) equities&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;was down 0.9% by 8:43 GMT, falling for a second straight day and hitting its lowest level since March.



China Evergrande Group 3333.HK tumbled for the second day in a row, down 8.1%, after a unit of the embattled property developer missed an onshore bond repayment. Hong Kong&#8217;s broader property shares index .HSMPI fell 2.2%.



Stocks in mainland China .CSI300 slipped 0.6%, while China&#8217;s yuan CNY=CFXS held steady against the dollar after the central bank set the official guidance rate at its widest against market estimates.



Both EM stocks and currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS, down 0.2% on Tuesday, have been pressured in recent days by hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve and other major central banks.&nbsp;The two asset classes&nbsp;are on track for losses in the third quarter.



Among other EM currencies, the Hungarian forint&nbsp;EURHUF=&nbsp;edged up 0.1% against the euro, coming off a near three-week low.



The National Bank of Hungary is expected to cut its one-day quick deposit rate by a further 100 basis points to 13% at 12:00 GMT, according to a Reuters poll, as inflation decelerates and the economy slows.



&#8220;(In terms of) what the inflation will do in 2024, we see a lot of upside risks and we are expecting inflation to stay above 5% on average,&#8221; said Peter Virovacz, senior economist at ING Bank Hungary.



&#8220;That&#8217;s why the National Bank of Hungary needs to remain hawkish and they need to keep the interest rate environment high. We are expecting the forward guidance to be hawkish today.&#8221;



The Turkish lira &lt;TRYTOM=D3 weakened to a record low beyond 27.236 against the dollar, due to inflationary pressure, bringing its year-on-year losses to more than 31%.



S&amp;P said late on Monday it was expecting tight monetary policy in emerging markets to have a more noticeable impact on demand in coming quarters and that they would likely grow below trend for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.



South Africa&#8217;s rand ZAR= slipped 0.7%. Data showed the country&#8217;s composite leading business cycle indicator rose 0.1% month-on-month in July.



(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Anil D&#8217;Silva)

Stock market report. 3d illustration

Stocks at six-month lows, forint inches up ahead of rate decision

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="408" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400697" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Double exposure of coin stack with city background and world map, financial graph, world map and global network business concept idea, element by NASA.</figcaption></figure>



Sept 22 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Emerging market stocks recovered from a four-day losing streak at the end of a week packed with major central bank decisions, while the Indian rupee firmed after JPMorgan&#8217;s plans to include the country&#8217;s local bonds in its debt index.



MSCI&#8217;s index for emerging market equities&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;rose 0.8% by 0853 GMT on Friday, bouncing off a recent three-month low, but was on track for weekly declines of 2.2%.



Pressuring emerging markets this week was a jump in U.S Treasury yields as investors assessed potential for an additional rate hike from the Federal Reserve and fewer cuts next year following revised projections from the central bank.



Most Asian stock markets were higher on Friday, led by equities in Hong Kong .HSI and mainland China .CSI300, up 2.3% and 1.8% respectively following reports of China&#8217;s measures to promote the development of the private economy.



China is considering relaxing the rules that cap foreign ownership in domestic publicly traded firms, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.



Emerging market currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;edged 0.1% higher but shed 0.2% for the week.



The dollar =USD, meanwhile, was on track for its tenth consecutive weekly increase while the yen JPY=EBS dropped as the Bank of Japan maintained ultra-low interest rates on Friday.



India&#8217;s rupee INR= climbed 0.3% against the dollar after JPMorgan JPM.Nsaid it will include the country in its widely tracked emerging market debt index, setting the stage for billions of dollars of inflows into the world&#8217;s fifth-largest economy.



JPMorgan&#8217;s decision could push India&#8217;s benchmark 10-year bond yield to sub-7% levels in the coming months, Citi and Bank of America said on Friday.



Barclays strategists forecast the inclusion implies direct inflows of $20-$25 billion over the next 18-21 months.



&#8220;The INR rallied on the index inclusion news, but still faces headwinds from a firm USD, elevated US yields and higher oil prices,&#8221; the strategists said in a note.



The South African rand ZAR= strengthened 0.6% versus the dollar and was on track for a weekly gain of nearly 1% despite a drop in the previous session after the country held interest rates steady.



Among central and eastern European currencies, the Polish zloty PLNEUR= rose 0.2% against the euro, ahead of a credit ratings review by Moody&#8217;s. The currency has outperformed its regional peers this week and is on track for weekly gains of 1%.



(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar. Editing by Jane Merriman)

istockphoto-1076949610-612×612-1

Stocks recover from Fed jolt, India to join JPMorgan bond index

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="357" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400669" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1-300x175.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance</figcaption></figure>



Sept 21 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Emerging market stocks hit an over three month low on Thursday as risk sentiment waned after the U.S. Federal Reserve stiffened its hawkish monetary policy stance, while investors awaited interest rate decisions from Turkey and South&nbsp;Africa.



After the Fed left rates unchanged as widely expected, markets focused on the possibility of borrowing costs staying significantly tighter through 2024 than previously expected after the central bank&#8217;s updated quarterly projections.



MSCI&#8217;s gauge for emerging market equities&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;slid 1.3% to its lowest since early June, while currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;slid 0.3% by 8:48 GMT against a steady dollar.



China&#8217;s blue-chip CSI 300 Index&nbsp;.CSI300&nbsp;index hit an over ten-month low while Hong Kong&#8217;s Hang Seng Index&nbsp;.HSI&nbsp;dropped 1.3%.



A slew of regional monetary policy decisions will also grab focus later on Thursday, with Turkey expected to deliver a 500 basis point hike at 1100 GMT, taking the benchmark weekly repo rate to 30%, according to a Reuters poll.



The lira&nbsp;TRYTOM=D3&nbsp;was flat at 27.039 to the dollar, having drifted weaker in recent days after a jump late in August following a shock 750 basis point rate hike from the Turkish central bank.



After a historic currency crash in late 2021 and given surging inflation, President Tayyip Erdogan set aside years of opposition to tight monetary policy and publicly backed it this year.



&#8220;We have&#8230; reached a crucial juncture where the interest rate level may not yet be high enough to be labelled &#8220;restrictive&#8221; for the ongoing inflation rate,&#8221; said Tatha Ghose, FX analyst at Commerzbank in a note.



Erdogan &#8220;could be showing support now, but there could come a moment of truth leading up to the 2024 local elections, where he reverses stance,&#8221; Ghose added.



Later in the day, markets await the South African central bank&#8217;s monetary policy decision where the regulator is widely expected to keep the repo rate on hold at 8.25%. The rand ZAR= was flat ahead of the decision due at 1300 GMT.



In central and eastern Europe, Poland&#8217;s zloty EURPLN= slipped 0.1% against the euro after data showed nominal retail sales in constant prices fell 2.7% in August, lesser than market expectations.



Hungary&#8217;s forint HUFEUR= fell 0.3% versus the euro after central bank Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy said the country&#8217;s headline inflation rate, currently the highest in the European Union, can fall to an annual 7% by the end of this year.



(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Stocks hit 3-month low; Turkey, South Africa central bank decisions eyed

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-425963" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership.jpeg 1905w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping waves after his speech as the new Politburo Standing Committee members meet the media following the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Sept 19 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Chinese sovereign lending to Africa fell below $1 billion last year &#8211; the lowest level in nearly two decades &#8211; underscoring Beijing&#8217;s shift away from a decades-long big ticket infrastructure spree on the continent, data showed on Tuesday.



The drop in lending reflected in data from Boston University&#8217;s Global China Initiative comes as several African nations struggle with debt crises and China&#8217;s own economy is facing growing headwinds.



Africa has been a focus of President Xi Jinping&#8217;s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013 to recreate the ancient Silk Road and extend China&#8217;s geopolitical and economic influence through a global infrastructure development push.



Boston University&#8217;s Chinese Loans to Africa Database estimates Chinese lenders provided $170 billion to Africa from 2000 to 2022.



But lending has declined sharply since a 2016 peak. Just seven loans worth $1.22 billion were signed in 2021. Nine loans totalling $994 million were agreed last year, marking the lowest level of Chinese lending since 2004.



While those two years coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic, researcher Oyintarelado Moses told Reuters that there are other contributing factors.



&#8220;A lot of that really has to do with the level of risk exposure,&#8221; said Moses, who manages the database and co-authored a report released on Tuesday.



While African governments largely welcomed Chinese lending and infrastructure projects, Western critics have accused Beijing of saddling poor nations with unsustainable debt.



Zambia &#8211; a major Chinese borrower &#8211; became the first African country to default during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. Other governments, including Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia, are also struggling.



China, meanwhile, is facing its own problems at home as policymakers struggle to revive growth amid persistent weakness in the crucial property industry, a faltering currency and flagging global demand for its manufactured goods.



&#8220;China&#8217;s domestic economy is playing a huge role here,&#8221; said Moses.



The China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China &#8211; the two institutions behind most of the lending to Africa &#8211; have been redeployed to support the domestic economy, while much of the overseas lending that remains is going to markets closer to home.



The decline in loans does not necessarily mean an end to Chinese engagement in Africa, however.



The Boston University analysis found that certain trends &#8211; fewer loans over $500 million and more focus on social and environmental impacts &#8211; appeared to reflect China&#8217;s stated push towards a more high-quality, greener Belt and Road Initiative.



&#8220;This is such a huge part of the relationship, I think there&#8217;s still going to be interest from Chinese lenders,&#8221; Moses said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just that it&#8217;s going to look different.&#8221;



(Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

107140189-16667014702022-10-23t070716z_5164924_rc2s6x9f6dpf_rtrmadp_0_china-congress-leadership

Chinese loans to Africa plummet to near two-decade low – study

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="560" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-820x560.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427552" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-820x560.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-300x205.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-132x90.jpg 132w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-768x524.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-1536x1048.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/WHLBVWCLNJKWPMHKTOZ5E22TCQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A view shows oil pump jacks outside Almetyevsk in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia June 4, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;With oil investors and traders focused on an oil-price rally that has come close to $100 a barrel, some grades of crude oil are already trading above that milestone, highlighting an expectation of tight supply.



The outright price of Nigerian crude Qua Iboe surpassed $100 a barrel on Monday, according to LSEG data&nbsp;QUA-E. Malaysian crude Tapis reached $101.30 last week, said Bjarne Schieldrop, analyst at Swedish bank SEB, in a report.



Oil has risen to its highest level of 2023 as investors are focused on the prospect of a supply deficit in the fourth quarter after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended supply cuts. The two are the biggest producers in the OPEC+ group, most other members of which are also curbing output.



&#8220;The overall situation is that Saudi Arabia and Russia are in solid control of the oil market,&#8221; Schieldrop said.



Brent oil futures, a global benchmark&nbsp;LCOc1, traded as high as $94.89 on Monday and the related benchmark used for trading much of the world&#8217;s physical cargoes, called dated Brent&nbsp;BFO-, stood just above $96 according to LSEG.



Qua Iboe, and some other crudes priced against Brent, are above $100 already because they are based on the price of dated Brent plus a cash differential or premium, currently assessed by LSEG at around $4.25 a barrel&nbsp;BFO-QUA.



Schieldrop said dated Brent is highly likely to move above $100 as &#8220;only noise is needed to bring it above.&#8221; Swiss bank UBS sees Brent futures reaching triple digits.



&#8220;We expect Brent to trade in a range of $90–100 over the coming months, with a year-end target of $95,&#8221; said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.



(Reporting by Alex Lawler, editing by David Evans)

FILE PHOTO: A view shows oil pump jacks outside Almetyevsk

Will oil hit $100? It already did in some markets

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-404443" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stock-value-rising-and-falling.jpg 1254w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Macro view of a screen of trading terminal with abstract financial graph and digits. Trading and forex concept. 3D Rendering</figcaption></figure>



Sept 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Emerging market (EM) stocks fell on Monday in a glum start to a week packed with major central bank policy decisions, with Hong Kong&#8217;s&nbsp;benchmark&nbsp;index dragged down by prolonged malaise in China&#8217;s property sector.



The Hang Seng .HSI closed down 1.4%, bogged down by a 2.0% drop in the property index .HSMPI after police detained some staff at China&#8217;s embattled developer Evergrande Group 3333.HK, suggesting a new investigation.



MSCI&#8217;s index for&nbsp;EM&nbsp;equities&nbsp;.MSCIEFwas down&nbsp;0.8% by 8:55 GMT.



Chipmakers were also a drag, with South Korea&#8217;s benchmark stock index .KS11 falling 1.0% after Reuters on Friday reported that Taiwan&#8217;s TSMC 2330.TW told its major suppliers to delay delivery of high-end chip-making equipment on demand worries.



After signs of stabilisation in the Chinese economy propped up EM stocks last week, the focus will&nbsp;now&nbsp;be on the Federal Reserve&#8217;s rate decision due on Wednesday, where the central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates&nbsp;steady.



&#8220;If the U.S. economy reaccelerates&#8230; then the Fed will hike further and the dollar will strengthen, which could start to undermine EM equities,&#8221; said Jon Harrison, managing director of emerging market macro strategy at TS Lombard.



EM&nbsp;currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;were down 0.1% against a stronger dollar, with rate decisions from Turkey, South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;and Brazil on tap in&nbsp;the&nbsp;coming days.



Turkey&#8217;s lira TRYTOM=D3 weakened beyond 27 to the dollar for the first time in more than three weeks, ahead of a central bank meeting later this week, where it is expected to hike rates by 500 basis points.



In central and eastern Europe, the Czech crown EURCZK= gained 0.4% versus the euro after Governor Ales Michl said on Sunday that the central bank will not cut rates in September amid high inflation and will wait for data in November and beyond.



Separately, data showed August producer prices rose more than expected by 1.8% on an annual basis.



Poland&#8217;s zloty&nbsp;PLNEUR=R&nbsp;rose 0.2% ahead of the country&#8217;s net annual inflation numbers. Economists polled by Reuters expect price growth to cool to 10% in August from July&#8217;s 10.6%.



Meanwhile, Moody&#8217;s downgraded Ethiopia&#8217;s foreign currency rating deeper into junk on high likelihood of a default, while upgrading Greece&#8217;s sovereign credit rating as it expects an even faster reduction in the general government debt burden.



(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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Economy

Multilateral development banks, keen to expand lending, to meet with ratings agencies

IMF lowers Sub-Saharan Africa growth forecasts

IMF says global economy ‘limping along,’ cuts growth forecast for China, euro area

Marrakech prepares for IMF and World Bank meeting a month after deadly quake

World Bank Says Sub-Saharan Africa Growth to Slow to 2.5% This Year

Anglo American cutting head office jobs in several countries

Developing countries facing a debt crunch

Top adviser Lazard says countries need debt mechanism to ‘strike a deal and move on’

Stocks tumble to near 7-month low, Forint gains on EU funds report

Farmers plant more cocoa outside Africa as prices rally

Stocks inch up on first day of Q4, investors assess PMI data

Stocks at six-month lows, forint inches up ahead of rate decision

Stocks recover from Fed jolt, India to join JPMorgan bond index

Stocks hit 3-month low; Turkey, South Africa central bank decisions eyed

Chinese loans to Africa plummet to near two-decade low – study

Will oil hit $100? It already did in some markets

China property woes weigh on EM stocks ahead of central bank-heavy week

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