<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="528" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/800px-MTN_Mobile_south_africa_shop.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413512" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/800px-MTN_Mobile_south_africa_shop.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/800px-MTN_Mobile_south_africa_shop-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/800px-MTN_Mobile_south_africa_shop-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/800px-MTN_Mobile_south_africa_shop-768x507.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>Photo: via Wikimedia Commons
Ken Banks, kiwanja.net</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, March 9 (Reuters) &#8211; Africa&#8217;s largest mobile operator by subscribers, MTN Group MTNJ.J, resumed annual dividends on Wednesday, declaring a higher payout than previous guidance as a divestment plan made progress and the firm reported higher profit.



Last year March MTN suspended dividends to focus on reducing debt and because of uncertainty around cash upstreaming from Nigeria, the timing of proceeds from its asset realisation programme and the impact of COVID-19.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2L81EU&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



It said at the time it would announce a revised medium-term dividend policy in March 2022 and anticipated paying a total ordinary dividend of at least 260 cents per share for fiscal 2021.



&#8220;The board has looked at the cash balances, solvency and liquidity as well as the investment profile that we have in the year ahead and has declared a dividend of 300 cents per share, so 40 cents higher than our minimum,&#8221; said Group Chief Executive Ralph Mupita.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-mtn-uganda-announces-share-price-for-biggest-ugandan-ipo">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/mtn-uganda-announces-share-price-for-biggest-ugandan-ipo/">MTN Uganda announces share price for biggest Ugandan IPO</a></h3>



It also announced a new dividend policy, to guide the market annually on a dividend amount, subject to its capital allocation priorities and market conditions, Mupita added.



With its new policy, MTN anticipates paying a minimum ordinary final dividend of 330 cents for financial year 2022.



MTN, with 273 million customers in 19 countries across Africa and the Middle East, said headline earnings per share (HEPS), the main profit measure in its home market of South Africa, rose by 31.8% to 987 cents, up from 749 cents a year earlier.



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

800px-MTN_Mobile_south_africa_shop

Africa’s MTN resumes dividend after bumper annual profit

LAUNCESTON, Australia, March 7 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;China&#8217;s lowering of its economic growth target for 2022 to 5.5% seems at first glance to be bearish for iron ore prices, but there are others factors at play likely to keep upward pressure on the steel raw material.



There is little doubt that China, the world&#8217;s second-biggest economy and biggest importer of commodities, is facing headwinds, both domestic and global.



It&#8217;s not surprising that Premier Li Keqiang lowered the growth target from 2021&#8217;s 6% (although the economy actually expanded 8.1%) in his report to the annual session of parliament.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2V803L&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



China&#8217;s priority for 2022 is &#8220;economic stability,&#8221; Li said, and it&#8217;s those words that are likely quite bullish for iron ore.



Already China is cutting interest rates, local governments are starting to boost infrastructure spending, and tax cuts are expected &#8211; all positive demand drivers for steel.



China&#8217;s iron ore imports have had a steady start to the year, with Refinitiv estimating arrivals at 83.69 million tonnes in February and 86.14 million in January, roughly in line with the 88.4 million from December and the 89.29 million from November.



Iron ore imports have held up in the first two months of 2022 despite restrictions on steel output as the authorities in Beijing sought to limit pollution over winter and during the Winter Olympic Games in the city.



Now that these restrictions are ending and stimulus measures are starting to flow into China&#8217;s economy, it&#8217;s likely that steel demand will rise, thus lifting iron ore imports in coming months.



Overall, the domestic backdrop looks constructive for iron ore despite the lower economic growth target, given that the likely composition of China&#8217;s growth will be steel-intensive.



External factors may also be aligning for stronger steel production in China, given the ongoing, and worsening, crisis created by Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine.



Both Russia and Ukraine are significant exporters of iron ore and steel products, a trade likely to disappear in coming months.



Ukraine will be unable to export because of the war, and Russia&#8217;s shipments will likely face difficulties as buyers self-sanction trade with Russia amid outrage at the violence being inflicted on Ukraine, as well as challenges arranging payment, transport and insurance for commodity purchases.



Ukraine exported 2.92 million tonnes of iron ore in January and 3.27 million in December, according to commodity consultants Kpler. Monthly shipments range from around 1.8 million tonnes to about 3.7 million in the past two years, the data show.



Russia&#8217;s exports of iron ore are smaller, typically no more than 500,000 tonnes a month, however, its shipments of steel tend to average slightly more than 1 million tonnes per month.



The loss of Ukrainian iron ore exports is relatively small, but will force buyers to look elsewhere, with European steel mills likely turning to Atlantic basin shippers such as Brazil, and South Africa, while Asian importers will try to source more from top exporter Australia, and perhaps second-tier producers such as Iran and India.



Ukraine&#8217;s exports to China were 1.3 million tonnes in January and 1.96 million in December, according to Kpler.



Losing that supply will tighten the market somewhat in China, which buys about 70% of global seaborne iron ore.



In other words, the absence of Ukrainian cargoes isn&#8217;t as big a deal for iron ore as is the loss of Russian crude for the oil market, but it does matter and is bullish for the price.



The loss of Russian steel exports, and the possibility that European steel producers will find it hard to maintain output amid high energy prices and the possibility of interrupted supplies, will serve to tighten the global steel market.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-advantage-china">ADVANTAGE CHINA?</h2>



China is one of the few producers with the capacity to increase steel production, and if the authorities are willing to allow the increased pollution from the coal-intensive process, it&#8217;s possible that Chinese steel mills will want to boost production and lift exports.



With the positive backdrop for iron ore, the spot price for benchmark 62% ore delivered to north China&nbsp;MTIOQIN62=ARG, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, has climbed in recent weeks, ending at $151.40 a tonne on March 4.



This was up from the pre-Ukraine invasion low of $130.75 a tonne on Feb. 17, and just shy of the $153.55 peak, hit on both March 3 and Feb. 10, which was the highest close since August last year.



However, iron ore&#8217;s recent rally is modest compared to other commodities affected by the Ukraine crisis, such as crude oil, natural gas and wheat, and the steel ingredient remains well short of the record $235.55 a tonne from May last year.



While a rally back to those levels seems unlikely given the current state of supply and demand fundamentals, there does appear scope for further gains.



GRAPHIC-China iron ore imports vs spot price:&nbsp;<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3KlqaaZ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/3KlqaaZ</a>



The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.



(Editing by Michael Perry)

d6d00f0d-7ec4-4dd7-9a0b-e1818dba07c6

Iron ore outlook is more bullish than lower China growth target suggests: Russell

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="484" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-820x484.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415655" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-820x484.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-300x177.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-153x90.jpg 153w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-768x453.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-1536x906.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BYYJJINYJBOSTHPHXYL6KBXAQ4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Russian Rouble and U.S. Dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken, February 24, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration</figcaption></figure>



BENGALURU/JOHANNESBURG, March 4 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Currencies are in for a bumpy ride with already heightened volatility expected to increase over the next three months in the wake of Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, according to a Reuters poll of analysts who forecast more pain for the battered rouble.



Volatility spiked on Wednesday to levels not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Deutsche Bank&nbsp;.DBCVIX.



That trend is expected to continue in the near term, with over 90% of respondents to an additional question in the Feb. 28-March 3 poll of currency strategists expecting volatility to either increase or increase significantly in the coming three months.



&#8220;It will be a higher volatility period just because the issues under discussion haven&#8217;t been under discussion in a generation and in some places in a lifetime,&#8221; said Steve Englander, head of G10 FX strategy at Standard Chartered.



Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, money has been siphoned away from riskier assets into safer havens, including the dollar, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, as well as currencies linked to commodity markets.



While the yen and franc were expected to be in demand in the short term they were forecast to weaken marginally against the greenback over the 12-month horizon as neither currency carries an interest rate edge.



The U.S. Federal Reserve is set to begin raising rates at its meeting this month from near-zero, delivering at least 125 basis points of tightening by year-end, according to a separate Reuters poll.&nbsp;ECILT/USFEDWATCH



&#8220;The traditional safe havens&#8230;are doing OK but not brilliant when under tensions, and underperforming badly when tensions ease because, in a way, they have nothing to offer. They don&#8217;t have any rates,&#8221; said Englander.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-invasion-s-wider-fx-implications-unclear">INVASION&#8217;S WIDER FX IMPLICATIONS UNCLEAR</h2>



Median forecasts of over 60 respondents showed little change in analysts&#8217; expectations compared with the February poll, suggesting many forecasters have not yet worked out the wider FX market implications of armed conflict in Europe.



&#8220;We have a very, very wide range of geopolitical outcomes here, which the market is not pricing for correctly,&#8221; said Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank.



&#8220;The risks in play here in the background transcend anything to do with where the euro/dollar is trading.&#8221;



So far, analysts expect the euro&nbsp;EUR=, which hit a 21-month low on Wednesday, to recoup its 2.5% losses for the year and gain more than 1.0% over the next 12 months.



The yen&nbsp;JPY=&nbsp;and the franc&nbsp;CHF=&nbsp;are also forecast to trade slightly lower in a year, and commodity currencies to outshine them.



The Aussie dollar&nbsp;AUD=&nbsp;and Kiwi dollar&nbsp;NZD=&nbsp;are expected to gain over 2.3% and 6.0%, respectively, and the Canadian dollar&nbsp;CAD=&nbsp;over 2.5%.



The Russian rouble hit a record low on Thursday, shedding over a third of its value this year, as stinging Western sanctions pummeled Russia&#8217;s financial system.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V53SI&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Asked how low the rouble would fall to this month, 11 strategists returned a median of 125/$. Forecasts ranged from 120-150/$.



Russia&#8217;s neighbour Turkey, where President Tayyip Erdogan has been urging the central bank to cut interest rates to fight inflation now running at 54%, has been battered by a currency crisis that saw the lira lose nearly half its value last year.



The lira&nbsp;TRY=&nbsp;was forecast to plunge another 20% in the next 12 months.



(For other stories from the March Reuters foreign exchange poll:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2V60XT&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>)



(Reporting by Hari Kishan; Polling by Prerana Bhat, Shaloo Shrivastava and Vijayalakshmi Srinivasan; Editing by Ross Finley and John Stonestreet)

FILE PHOTO: Illustration shows Russian Rouble and U.S. Dollar banknotes

FX markets in for bumpy ride over next three months

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="534" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-820x534.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415582" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-820x534.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-768x500.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-1536x1001.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/A6YUY4GBTFPE7JJPCI35EWOMPU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Oil barrels are pictured at the site of Canadian group Vermilion Energy in Parentis-en-Born, France, October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau</figcaption></figure>



SINGAPORE, March 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Oil benchmarks are hitting multiple price and spread milestones across several key markets as the fallout from severe sanctions on key exporter Russia sows confusion and panic among global crude oil traders, shipping firms and importers.



The oil industry has been gripped by acute risk aversion in the finance and shipping sectors after several nations including the United States sanctioned multiple Russian entities following Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, though Washington has explicitly exempted energy products from the Russian measures.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V42EN&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Brent crude&nbsp;LCOc1&nbsp;topped $112 a barrel on Wednesday, the highest since 2014, shrugging off news that several developed countries plan to release a record 60 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves to cool prices.&nbsp;O/R<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V40TV&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



The price spread for Brent crude delivered between now and in 12 months&nbsp;LCOc1-LCOc12&nbsp;is at $21.54 a barrel, the steepest on record, while Brent&#8217;s premium to Dubai &#8211; the price spread between sweet and sour grades &#8211; hit an all-time high of $12.93 a barrel on Wednesday, a trader said.&nbsp;DUB-EFS-1M



That has driven demand for Middle East crude, with benchmark prices jumping to all-time highs at the start of March, up more than 50% from last month.&nbsp;CRU/M



The wide spread between the benchmarks along with surging freight rates for oil tankers globally has also made it more expensive for Asian buyers to purchase oil from Europe, Africa and the United States, narrowing their options.



Refiners in Asia and Europe are expected to seek more supplies from the Middle East and the United States to replace crude from Russia and Central Asia, the sources said, even as official selling prices for Saudi crude are set to hit record highs in April.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V501F&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2V33JK&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;Freight rates for Middle East to Asia are higher too, so it depends which one is more painful,&#8221; a Singapore-based trader said.



&#8220;Freight everywhere is increasing, plus Brent-Dubai is so wide. To some extent arbitrage to Asia will be affected.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-oil-prices-surge-as-russia-ukraine-crisis-escalates">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/oil-prices-surge-as-russia-ukraine-crisis-escalates/">Oil prices surge as Russia-Ukraine crisis escalates</a></h3>



Buyers of Russian oil faced difficulties in securing finance as major banks stopped issuing credit guarantees. Russian Urals crude oil&#8217;s discount to Brent&nbsp;BFO-URL-NWE&nbsp;is at its widest ever, while premiums for Russian ESPO and Sokol crudes exported to Asia have plunged.&nbsp;ESPO-DUB,&nbsp;SOK-DUB



Freight rates for oil tankers globally have also jumped, especially for those calling at ports in the Black Sea and Turkey, potentially disrupting exports of CPC Blend from Kazakhstan and Azeri Light from Azerbaijan.



Trading companies will probably have to use tankers that are put on long-term charter to ship these cargoes, a senior oil trader in Singapore said.



&#8220;Ship owners are having a ball,&#8221; he said.



Cut off from their usual supply sources, Asia and Europe are likely to step up imports from the Americas, traders and analysts said.



However, offers of U.S. Mars and West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery have more than tripled to $14 and $16 a barrel above Dubai quotes respectively, traders said, sidelining Asian buyers.



&#8220;The recent geopolitically-driven outperformance of Brent relative to WTI means that the North American benchmark has catching up to do in order to shut the door on exports, given that U.S. balances are tight, particularly with Cushing approaching operational tank bottoms,&#8221; RBC Capital analyst Mike Tran said in a note.



Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub have fallen to their lowest since September 2018.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2UR1ON&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Florence Tan and Gavin Maguire; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Oil barrels are pictured at the site of Canadian group Vermilion Energy in Parentis-en-Born

Oil markets hit multiple milestones after Russia sanctions

<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>World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance</figcaption></figure>



Feb 28 (Reuters) &#8211; Russia&#8217;s rouble plummeted against the dollar on Monday to lead losses among developing world currencies after a clutch of Western nations imposed biting new sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.



The rouble&nbsp;RUB=&nbsp;slid 30% earlier in the day to hit a record low of 109 per dollar and was trading 16% weaker at 1030 GMT, slammed by the sanctions, including some aimed at restricting the use of currency reserves of Russia&#8217;s central bank and blocking some banks from the SWIFT global payments system.



&#8220;(The move) torpedoes the &#8216;Fortress Russia&#8217; strategy that has been adopted and implemented over the past decade, even before the annexation of Crimea,&#8221; said Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global strategist at ADM Investor Services International.



The Central Bank of Russia&#8217;s (CBR) efforts to restrict the rouble&#8217;s fall, including raising its key policy rate to 20% and ordering companies to sell 80% of their foreign currency revenues, had limited effect.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V301U&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



&#8220;It could be carnage for the rouble&#8230; no matter what the interest rate, it won&#8217;t compensate you for the potential capital loss relative to getting hold of the dollar,&#8221; said Gabriel Sterne, head of strategy services and global EM research at Oxford Economics.



The MSCI emerging market currency index&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;lost 0.6%, while its stocks counterpart&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;slipped 0.2%.&nbsp;USD/



Most emerging market currencies in central and eastern Europe slipped against the euro, with Hungary&#8217;s forint&nbsp;EURHUF=, Poland&#8217;s zloty&nbsp;EURPLN=&nbsp;and the Czech crown&nbsp;EURCZK=&nbsp;down between 1% and 1.2%.



&#8220;There will be a lot of concern in European emerging markets, and others close to the crisis, both through trading and geopolitical links&#8230; but in our experience of conflicts, asset markets settle down rather quickly,&#8221; Sterne added.



The escalating Russia-Ukraine military crisis has spurred investors to shift money away from riskier emerging markets and into safer avenues such as the U.S. dollar&nbsp;USD=&nbsp;and gold&nbsp;XAU=.



Russian authorities also ordered brokers to stop executing orders by foreign legal entities and individuals to sell Russian securities, which analysts say could temper the exodus of foreign money.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V30GI&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



While the CBR said it would not open trading sessions on the stock and derivatives markets on Monday, Sberbank&#8217;s London listing&nbsp;SBNCYQ.L&nbsp;sank 62%, while gas giant Gazprom&#8217;s&nbsp;GAZPQ.L&nbsp;tumbled 52%.



In other emerging markets, Mexico&#8217;s peso&nbsp;MXN=&nbsp;fell 1.0%, and South Africa&#8217;s rand&nbsp;ZAR=&nbsp;fell 2.1%, hurt by risk-off appetite towards emerging market assets, while oil prices soared on supply fears.&nbsp;O/R



For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2022, see&nbsp;<a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh</a>



For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2022, see&nbsp;<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX</a>



For TOP NEWS across emerging markets&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3ATOPEMRG&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Anisha Sircar and Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Krishna Chandra Eluri)

World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance

Rouble battered, EM currencies down as West imposes new Russia sanctions

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="400" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asian-stock-market.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-405859" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asian-stock-market.jpg 600w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asian-stock-market-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asian-stock-market-120x80.jpg 120w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></figure>



Feb 25 (Reuters) &#8211; The Russian rouble steadied and pulled away from record low territory on Friday, but the currency was heading for its worst weekly performance since the onset of the pandemic as Russia pressed ahead with its invasion of Ukraine.



Missiles pounded Ukraine&#8217;s capital city Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded with the international community to do more, saying sanctions announced so far were not enough. <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2V001F&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Western countries including the United States and the European Union unveiled financial sanctions on Moscow billed as far stronger than earlier measures, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology imports.



But they stopped short of forcing Russia out of the SWIFT system for international bank payments.



The rouble RUB= rose 1.9% against the dollar, rebounding from a record low it hit on Thursday, as the central bank announced FX interventions for the first time since 2014. Still, the currency is set for weekly declines of nearly 7%, its worst week since March 2020.



Stocks in the region also suffered, with the dollar-denominated RTS index&nbsp;.IRTS&nbsp;and the rouble-denominated MOEX index&nbsp;.IMOEX&nbsp;on track for their worst weekly declines in history.



&#8220;Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine has been a surprise, given the substantial economic costs for Russia,&#8221; said Vincent Chaigneau, head of research at Generali Investments.



&#8220;The chances of a timely de-escalation seem low, with Putin seeing Western governments generally weak and fractured, with sharply divided U.S. political class, President Biden likely to lose mid-term elections, fresh German government, upcoming French elections, chaotic energy transition&#8230; this may explain the timing of the attack and reduces the chance of a quick resolution.&#8221;



Investors are now awaiting more central bank action to address high inflation. An unplanned interest rate hike as it did in late 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, was also on the cards.



Russian sovereign dollar bonds extended gains after Thursday&#8217;s selloff, according to Tradeweb.&nbsp;RU000A1006T7=TE



The MSCI&#8217;s emerging market stocks index .MSCIEF added 1.1%, while its currencies counterpart .MIEM00000CUS gained 0.3%. Both indexes were set for weekly declines.



J.P.Morgan downgraded its view on emerging market currencies in Europe, Middle East and Africa regions to &#8220;underweight&#8221; from &#8220;market weight&#8221; on global market ramifications from Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine.



Turkey&#8217;s lira&nbsp;TRY=&nbsp;steadied after falling as much as 5% a day earlier, touching two-month lows. The lira had stabilised since a crisis in December, supported by a scheme that protects lira deposits against depreciation and costly currency market interventions from the central bank.



South Africa&#8217;s rand ZAR= rose 0.3%, taking comfort from higher gold prices, while the Czech crown EURCZK=, Hungary&#8217;s forint EURHUF= and the Polish zloty EURPLN= clawed back some losses against the euro.



For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2022, see <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh</a>



For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2022, see <a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX</a>



For TOP NEWS across emerging markets <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3ATOPEMRG&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

asian stock market

Rouble off lows, still set for worst week in 2 years on Ukraine invasion

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LAUNCESTON, Australia, Feb 14 (Reuters) &#8211; The price of benchmark Australian thermal coal rose last week to trade near record highs, providing a short-term boost to producers but increasing the risks of longer-term pain.



The Newcastle index, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, climbed to $258.59 a tonne in the week to Feb. 11, up from $246.34 the prior week and close to the all-time high of $261.11 from the week to Jan. 28.



Indonesian coal prices have also recorded strong gains since the country&#8217;s government allowed most of its coal mines to resume exports after a ban in January, ostensibly to ensure sufficient domestic supplies.



The Argus index for lower-energy 4,200 kilocalorie per kilogram Indonesian coal jumped to $76.59 a tonne in the week to Feb. 11, up 32% from its 2022 low of $58.15 on Jan. 14, but still well short of the record $143.14 from October last year.



Australia, the world&#8217;s second-biggest shipper of thermal coal used for power generation behind Indonesia, is seeing strong demand for the polluting fuel from traditional customers in north Asia, such as Japan and South Korea.



It&#8217;s worth noting that the bulk of coal bought by these countries is sold under short- and medium-term contracts, and not at the weekly spot price.



This doesn&#8217;t mean Japanese and South Korean utilities aren&#8217;t paying high prices for their most of their supplies, but it is unlikely they are paying the current extremely high weekly index price.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="read-more-south-africa-taken-to-court-over-plan-for-new-coal-power">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/south-africa-taken-to-court-over-plan-for-new-coal-power/">South Africa taken to court over plan for new coal power</a></h3>



To put the current price in context, this time last year the Newcastle Index was at $87.43 a tonne, having recovered strongly from its pandemic-low in 2020 of $46.94.



However, between 2012 and the middle of last year, the price had never exceeded $120 a tonne and had spent much of those years between $50 and $90.



This was a period where even though Asia&#8217;s coal imports were experiencing strong growth, production was rising even faster as miners in Australia, Indonesia and Russia boosted output in the wake of the previous record high of just under $200 a tonne in 2008.



It was the boost to production that led to years of low prices, during which many miners struggled, before strong demand, especially from the world&#8217;s top importers China and India once again created coal shortages.



The key question is how will the industry respond this time to high prices?



As much as the miners themselves may want to bring on new production, the challenges in doing so are far more serious now than they were a decade ago.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-supply-to-stay-constrained">SUPPLY TO STAY CONSTRAINED?</h2>



In Australia environmental activism has progressed from small groups chaining themselves to coal-export equipment to sophisticated groups using court challenges and pressuring banks and investors to move away from coal.



Coal miners are finding it harder to raise cash and insure projects, a trend likely to continue as climate change gains a bigger share of the public consciousness.



The Australian government&#8217;s commodity forecaster in a December report on investment intentions in resources said that the value of coal projects dropped 7% between 2020 and 2021, compared with a 25% jump in that for critical minerals and 36% for gold.



Indonesia&#8217;s coal export ban in January will also have rattled potential and current investors, with buyers also likely concerned about just how secure are their imports from the Southeast Asian nation in an era of rising resource nationalism.



Coal&#8217;s mantra for much of the past two decades in Asia has been that it is a fuel of choice because it&#8217;s cheap and reliable.



The current price surge, coupled with falling investment, undermines the cheap messaging, while the fickle nature of Indonesia&#8217;s current government does little to inspire confidence in the reliability argument.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="read-more-work-set-to-start-on-botswana-coal-mine-in-2022-despite-pressure">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/work-set-to-start-on-botswana-coal-mine-in-2022-despite-pressure/">Work set to start on Botswana coal mine in 2022 despite pressure</a></h3>



There is also the longer-term response to the current high prices from customers, both existing and potential.



While Japan and South Korea have little choice but to suck up the current high prices, given their energy needs over winter, the question remains as to whether they are likely to try and move away from coal faster.



While liquefied natural gas (LNG) is also expensive currently, largely due to Europe&#8217;s shortage of natural gas, the longer-term view for the super-chilled fuel is more encouraging than for coal.



This is implied because substantial investment and capacity additions are in the works for LNG, as top exporters Qatar, the United States and to a lesser extent Australia all expand production.



Then there is the lure of renewables backed by storage. Not only do these energies such as wind and solar not rely on imported fossil fuels, they offer countries pollution advantages and most likely export advantages assuming carbon border taxes become a reality.



The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.



(Editing by Stephen Coates)

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Thermal coal’s record price run may end up its own worst enemy: Russell

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="517" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GNZ4EKIZHBJMHAHGTKTLUHIQ54-820x517.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415106" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GNZ4EKIZHBJMHAHGTKTLUHIQ54-820x517.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GNZ4EKIZHBJMHAHGTKTLUHIQ54-300x189.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GNZ4EKIZHBJMHAHGTKTLUHIQ54-143x90.jpg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GNZ4EKIZHBJMHAHGTKTLUHIQ54-768x484.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GNZ4EKIZHBJMHAHGTKTLUHIQ54.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>A 3D-printed oil pump jack is seen in front of displayed OPEC logo in this illustration picture, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo </figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) &#8211; After a month in which oil prices surged 15% and geopolitical tensions seethed around the world, OPEC and its allies took a record-quick 16 minutes to decide that they would stick to their previously planned output increase.



Apparently, there were no lengthy discussions at Wednesday&#8217;s meeting about member nations of the producer group failing to hit their production targets or about one of the busiest months on the geopolitical front in years, featuring: a potential war between Russia and Ukraine; rare unrest in Kazakhstan; hints of progress in nuclear talks progress between the United States and Iran; and repeated Houthi drone attacks on the United Arab Emirates.



They instead chose to complete their regular monthly meeting in record time, avoiding any thorny discussions. OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia, agreed to a small increase for March, raising the collective oil production target by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).



Brent crude prices hit a seven-year high of $91.70 a barrel on Jan 28 and are currently trading at about $90.



Several OPEC+ delegates said the latest leg of oil&#8217;s rally was a result of concern over the potential for supply disruption due to conflict rather than an issue with undersupply.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/oil-market-headed-for-surplus-as-omicron-impact-muted-iea/">Oil market headed for surplus as Omicron impact muted -IEA</a></h3>



&#8220;Prices are high not because of market fundamentals but because of geopolitics,&#8221; one delegate said.



The source said, however, that geopolitical tensions were not discussed. &#8220;Nothing political (was) raised,&#8221; he said.



The group has been making the same monthly adjustment to targets since August as it slowly unwinds record cuts made at the height of the pandemic, when fuel demand slumped worldwide.



OPEC+ has fallen well short of meeting the rising target, and is trailing the recovery in fuel demand, because several members failed to make needed investments to maintain oilfields during the pandemic.



As well as the international crisis over Ukraine, tension this month also arose on the Arabian Peninsula where Yemen&#8217;s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched drones and missiles to attack the United Arab Emirates in an escalation of a conflict with a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.



&#8220;A geopolitical premium is baked into prices with the Russia-Ukraine standoff continuing and trigger-happy Houthi rebels in Yemen,&#8221; PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-capacity-constraints">CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS</h2>



Asked about the main driver behind the decision, another OPEC+ delegate said, &#8220;This decision &#8230; suits everyone, both those who have the capacity to increase their supply and those who cannot&#8221;.



&#8220;With this decision, we maintain the cohesion of the group and we leave the difficult discussions for later,&#8221; he added, referring to dwindling capacity among some members.



OPEC+ data shows that in 2021 the group produced on average over 800,000 bpd below its production targets as some &#8211; mainly Western African &#8211; producers struggled with underinvestment.



The group&#8217;s lack of spare capacity &#8212; idled oilfields ready to come online quickly to deal with unexpected outages in global supply &#8212; along with a post-pandemic demand recovery, has put a charge into energy prices and driven global inflation higher.



Just a few producers hold most of that global spare capacity: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.



Several analysts, including Goldman Sachs, argue that the very thin spare capacity could push oil prices over the $100 mark later this year. U.S. sanctions are also keeping millions of barrels of production offline in Iran and Venezuela.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2020/opec-warns-of-immense-challenges-as-agreement-on-cuts-remains-elusive/">OPEC warns of ‘immense challenges’ as agreement on cuts remains elusive</a></h3>



The quick decision gives the group more time to wait for the direction of the Iran nuclear talks with the West which would pave the way for the lifting sanctions on oil exports from the OPEC member.



Indirect talks between the United States and Iran are entering the &#8220;final stretch,&#8221; with all sides having to make tough political decisions, a senior U.S. State Department official said this week.



Meanwhile Iranian oil minister Javad Owji was quoted as saying Tehran was ready to return to the oil market quickly, which could boost supply by an additional 1.5 million bpd.



This month, China&#8217;s customs reported the first import of Iranian crude in a year despite ongoing sanctions, offloading nearly 4 million barrels of Iranian crude oil into state reserve tanks.



&#8220;The White House has already seemingly dispensed with the maximum pressure sanctions enforcement policy, and more Iranian(and Venezuelan) barrels are making their way to China,&#8221; RBC Capital&#8217;s Helima Croft said.



Any nuclear deal with Iran will most likely force OPEC+ to rearrange its production quotas to make room for Iranian barrels as in previous years.



Extra Iranian supply, however, could help plug the hole in OPEC+&#8217;s output target misses, one of the sources said. 



(Editing by David Gregorio)

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OPEC+ meets quickly, sticks to script, dodges debate on geopolitics

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="510" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-820x510.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415093" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-820x510.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-300x186.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-145x90.jpg 145w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-768x477.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-1536x955.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2BZV3MEHYRLEXEALO7NGL4RXLI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Brazilian Real and U.S. dollar notes are pictured at a currency exchange office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in this September 10, 2015 photo illustration. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG/BENGALURU, Feb 4 (Reuters) &#8211; Emerging market currencies will struggle to stem losses in the near-term as the U.S. Federal Reserve lifts interest rates off the zero bound, but currencies from countries where central banks have already begun raising rates will outperform the rest.



A Reuters poll of market strategists taken Jan. 31-Feb. 3 suggests there will be no repeat of the mayhem in 2013, when the U.S. Fed&#8217;s decision to trim bond purchases punished emerging market currencies across the board.



More than 70% of respondents to an extra question &#8211; 23 of 32 &#8211; said front-loaded rate hiker currencies such as Brazil&#8217;s real and Russia&#8217;s rouble will weather the storm better than emerging market currencies did during that episode.



While those two central banks have already raised rates by 875 basis points and 425 basis points, respectively, the Fed has only cut back on its bond purchases, although is widely expected to deliver a rate rise at its March meeting.



Emerging market currencies began the year firmly, partly due to a broadly weaker dollar, with the Colombian peso, the Brazilian real and the South African rand gaining up to 5%, to top a list of 20 currencies tracked by Reuters against the dollar.



But these gains are forecast to be torpedoed in three months by an expected <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/fed-raise-rates-three-times-this-year-tame-unruly-inflation-2022-01-20 to 0.25-0.50%">25 basis point Fed hike in March</a>, likely attracting inflows to the U.S. and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/dollar-stay-dominant-big-fed-push-needed-climb-higher-2022-02-03">keeping the mighty dollar in the driving seat</a>.



Historically, high-risk, high-reward currencies have almost always weakened at the beginning of a Fed hiking cycle. The backdrop of a slow emergence from a deadly pandemic appears to be no exception.



&#8220;A hawkish Fed will keep EM local markets on the back foot, with rising carry likely to come into play as a major driver for currencies only later,&#8221; Jonny Goulden, emerging market strategist at JPMorgan, said.



&#8220;The wide range of possible outcomes from Russia-Ukraine tensions remains a significant source of two-way risk for EM assets,&#8221; he added.



In the longer term, competition for capital inflows is likely to intensify as central bankers around the world reign in on rising inflation locally, with the U.S. wrestling its own quickest inflation since 1982.



Barclays analysts wrote that in emerging markets, most central bank tightening cycles are underway and thus expectations for future rate paths are more established. Prospects for real yield should drive relative EM currency performance in the long run.



&#8220;We expect the proactive central bank tightening cycles in BRL and MXN to be rewarded with currency appreciation as inflation begins to decline, raising the real yield offering,&#8221; the note added.



Brazil and Russia&#8217;s central banks hiked the most last year in the list of those tracked by Reuters while South Africa and India remained accommodative to a large extent, moving only once with rates and not at all, respectively.



The South African rand and the Indian rupee were expected to weaken between 1-2% to 15.72/$ and 75.5/$ in six months while the Russian rouble, which has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-fails-keep-un-security-council-debate-ukraine-closed-2022-01-31">slumped nearly 3% so far this year amid tensions between Russia and the United States over Moscow&#8217;s troop build-up near Ukraine</a>, will gain nearly 5% to 73.1/$.



&#8220;We still expect a diplomatic solution and for the tensions to de-escalate. It will allow the rouble to rebound in the year ahead. The rouble is trading much weaker than traditional fundamental drivers such as the price of oil and yield spreads,&#8221; Lee Hardman, currency analyst at MUFG, said.



&#8220;If we are wrong, and there is another Ukraine invasion then the rouble will be sharply weaker.&#8221;



Turkey&#8217;s battered lira plunged 44% last year, making it by far the worst performer in emerging markets and marking its worst year since President Tayyip Erdogan came to power nearly two decades ago.



It is forecast to plunge another 15% to 16.0/$ in a year as it grapples with rampant <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/turkeys-inflation-surges-two-decade-high-487-2022-02-03/#:~:text=ISTANBUL%2C%20Feb%203%20(Reuters),the%20currency%20late%20last%20year">inflation</a>, last measured at just below 50%.



&#8220;We didn&#8217;t have long to wait for things to become worse, with the lira see-sawing in a wide range &#8230; inflation will creep even higher in the months ahead, and real rates will slide deeper into negative territory,&#8221; Maya Senussi, senior economist at Oxford Economics, said.



(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba in JOHANNESBURG and Vivek Mishra in BENGALURU; Polling by Devayani Sathyan, Shrutee Sarkar, Shaloo Shrivastava, Vijayalakshmi Srinivasan and Prerana Bhat; Editing by Ross Finley and Andrew Heavens)

FILE PHOTO: Brazilian Real and U.S. dollar notes are pictured at a currency exchange office in Rio de Janeiro

Emerging FX already riding higher local rates will outperform this year

NAIROBI, Jan 25 (Reuters) &#8211; A new pan-African payments system created to facilitate trade on the continent is negotiating with more central and commercial banks to join the platform, its chief executive said on Tuesday.



The Pan-African Payments and Settlement System (PAPSS) launched in the six-nation West African Monetary Zone, including Nigeria, earlier this month, with six central banks and 15 commercial banks.



The system is a joint initiative of the continental free trade area, the African Union, Afreximbank and African central banks. Afreximbank has invested &#8220;massively&#8221; in the platform, its CEO Mike Ogbalu said, without giving a figure.



&#8220;Most commercial banks want to join fast,&#8221; Ogbalu said. &#8220;There is also growing appetite from central banks as they see the need for PAPSS in intra-African trade, which eventually will stabilize their currencies.&#8221;



He said the organisation was talking to other regional economic communities running payment systems, such as the six-nation East African Community, but declined to give details of specific banks with which negotiations are taking place.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-sudan-to-get-700-million-of-funding-from-afreximbank-next-week">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/sudan-to-get-700-million-of-funding-from-afreximbank-next-week/">Sudan to get $700 million of funding from Afreximbank next week</a></h3>



The platform aims to boost trade in the Ghana-headquartered African Continental Free Trade Area, cutting transaction times across borders by allowing commercial banks to deal directly and saving the continent an estimated $5 billion in costs annually.



Currently, a trader&#8217;s bank has to route a cross-border payment through a correspondent bank or two in the United States or Europe before it gets to the recipient&#8217;s bank, which takes a minimum of three to five days, with charges at every point.



PAPSS bypasses that, with the sender&#8217;s bank, the recipient&#8217;s bank, and their respective central banks settling at one point.



&#8220;The savings will emanate from the elimination of the need (for traders) to solicit for a hard currency and the reduction in delays (and) charges.&#8221;



More than 36 nations have joined the continental free trade area, which was launched in 2019 to bring together 55 nations into a single market with annual economic output of more than $2.5 trillion. 



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Print

New African payments system for cross-border deals negotiating with more banks

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="539" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7OEIBHCCOZN3BETS5YY2LLWWA4-820x539.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412976" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7OEIBHCCOZN3BETS5YY2LLWWA4-820x539.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7OEIBHCCOZN3BETS5YY2LLWWA4-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7OEIBHCCOZN3BETS5YY2LLWWA4-137x90.jpg 137w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7OEIBHCCOZN3BETS5YY2LLWWA4-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/7OEIBHCCOZN3BETS5YY2LLWWA4.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>
A view shows Nigeria&#8217;s Central Bank headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria November 22, 2020. Picture taken November 22, 2020. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Jan 25 (Reuters) &#8211; Major central banks in sub-Saharan Africa will leave interest rates unchanged in coming days, starting with Nigeria and Kenya, and followed by Ghana at the end of the month, a Reuters poll suggested on Tuesday.



In a survey carried out in the past week, median forecasts showed analysts expected the central banks of Nigeria and Kenya to keep rates on hold at 11.50% and 7.00% respectively. Ghana was seen leaving borrowing costs at 14.50% next week.



&#8220;In Nigeria, FX policy will be the main focus of the MPC meeting, amid recent oil price strength,&#8221; Razia Khan of Standard Chartered said.



&#8220;While we expect the Central Bank of Kenya to keep its policy rate on hold at 7.00%, with inflation risks increasing, policy normalisation will likely be a key focus at the press conference,&#8221; Khan added.



Interest rates for these central banks have been relatively low since around 2015. However, Ghana and South Africa kicked off tightening last year, with the latter expected to hike rates again on Thursday to 4.00%.



Financial Derivatives wrote in a note that heightened inflationary pressures could force most central banks in Africa to adopt a contractionary monetary policy, following in the footsteps of some advanced economies.



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/fed-tries-match-economic-risks-against-markets-rush-tighten-2022-01-24">Policymakers in the United States expect as many as three quarter-percentage-point rate increases this year</a>, starting in March, with more likely in 2023 and 2024.



This development is expected to attract capital flows to the dollar, likely weakening local currencies and stoking inflation.



For that reason, not all respondents expected rates to stay on hold.



Leeuwner Esterhuysen of Oxford Economics expects the Bank of Ghana to hike its policy rate by 100 basis points at the coming meeting as part of its ongoing attempt to re-anchor inflation expectations.



Esterhuysen said economic momentum garnered in the second half of 2021 was set to spill over into this year, supporting his expectation for a rate hike.



&#8220;Also, Ghana would like to pre-empt the Fed&#8217;s (expected) end-March rate hike in order to prevent significant capital outflows,&#8221; Esterhuysen said.



The Reuters poll suggests rates will rise by end-September to 15.00%, 7.50% and 12.50% respectively in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.



Growth in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria was expected to recover this year, with these economies set to expand 5.1%, 5.0% and 2.8% after a difficult 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.



(Reporting by Vuyani Ndaba; Editing by Jonathan Cable and Andrew Heavens)

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Major African central banks expected to hold rates this month

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="507" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JFN5R5LQLJOE7L4Y2UY425AGMU.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412065" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JFN5R5LQLJOE7L4Y2UY425AGMU.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JFN5R5LQLJOE7L4Y2UY425AGMU-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JFN5R5LQLJOE7L4Y2UY425AGMU-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/JFN5R5LQLJOE7L4Y2UY425AGMU-768x487.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption>A 3D printed oil pump jack is seen in front of displayed stock graph and Opec logo in this illustration picture, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) &#8211; Oil supply will soon overtake demand as some producers are set to pump at or above all-time highs, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, while demand holds up despite the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.



&#8220;This time around, the surge is having a more muted impact on oil use,&#8221; the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil report.



&#8220;While the steady rise in supply could see a significant surplus materialise in 1Q22 and going forward, available data suggest that 2022 is starting off with global oil inventories well below pre-pandemic levels,&#8221; it said.



The United States, Canada and Brazil are set to pump at all-time highs for the year while Saudi Arabia and Russia could also break their output records.



&#8220;World oil supply in 2022 has the potential for a massive Saudi-driven gain of 6.2 million bpd (barrels per day), provided the OPEC+ alliance continues to unwind the remainder of its record 2020 supply cut.&#8221;



OPEC and other producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, is unwinding record output cuts put in place last year to counter a fall in demand caused by the pandemic.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-energy-crisis-could-threaten-global-economic-recovery-says-iea">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/energy-crisis-could-threaten-global-economic-recovery-says-iea/">Energy crisis could threaten global economic recovery, says IEA</a></h3>



Its plan calls for adding back 400,000 bpd of production per month to fully unwind the cuts by the end of September, although some countries are struggling to raise output, with OPEC+ in December falling 790,000 bpd short of its target.



Eased lockdown measures mean mobility remains robust, the IEA added, leading the energy watchdog to increase its oil demand estimate for last year and 2022 by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd).



&#8220;Supply disruptions and underperformance by OPEC+ are tempering growth expectations for 2022,&#8221; it said.



But the IEA warned that with commercial oil and fuel stocks in OECD countries at their lowest levels in seven years, any dents in supply could render the oil market in 2022 volatile.



The impact could be greater given that the ramp-up in pumping means the effective spare capacity of the group is reduced and now centred in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as some smaller OPEC members face output issues.



OPEC+ producers&#8217; effective spare capacity by the second half of the year, excluding Iranian oil which is blocked by sanctions, could shrink to 2.6 million bpd, the IEA said.



(Reporting by Noah Browning; editing by Jason Neely)

JFN5R5LQLJOE7L4Y2UY425AGMU

Oil market headed for surplus as Omicron impact muted -IEA

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="416" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/107002312-1642493017541-gettyimages-1237783674-AFP_9WC8FV.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-414678" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/107002312-1642493017541-gettyimages-1237783674-AFP_9WC8FV.jpeg 740w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/107002312-1642493017541-gettyimages-1237783674-AFP_9WC8FV-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/107002312-1642493017541-gettyimages-1237783674-AFP_9WC8FV-160x90.jpeg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption>A storage facility of oil giant ADNOC near the airport in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, on Jan. 17, 2022. AFP | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates has vowed to retaliate against Houthi militants for a deadly attack on its capital Abu Dhabi on Monday that killed three people, as fresh tensions in the region helped push oil prices to their highest level in seven years.



“We condemn the Houthi militia’s targeting of civilian areas and facilities on UAE soil today,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement following the attacks. “We reiterate that those responsible for this unlawful targeting of our country will be held accountable.”



The ministry added that the UAE “reserves the right to respond to these terrorist attacks and criminal escalation.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/oil-climbs-as-supplies-expected-to-remain-tight/">Oil climbs as supplies expected to remain tight</a></h3>



International benchmark Brent crude futures rose&nbsp;1.6% to $87.89&nbsp;a barrel on Tuesday morning, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures jumped more than&nbsp;2% to hit $85.56&nbsp;during early morning deals. Both oil contracts notched their highest level since October 2014 after a subdued trading day on Monday as U.S. markets were closed for a public holiday.



Energy analysts have attributed oil’s bullish run over recent weeks to signs of tightness in the market and persistent worries of a Russian incursion into Ukraine. The rising threat of a further deterioration in the Middle East’s security climate has provided further support to oil prices, prompting some to forecast a return to triple digits.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-significant-attack-on-uae">Most significant attack on UAE</h2>



Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place Monday morning and caused fires that resulted in three petroleum tanker explosions near state oil firm ADNOC’s storage facilities. The fires began in the industrial area of Musaffah and at a construction site near Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi police said in a statement, adding that they believe the attack was carried out by drones.



One Pakistani and two Indian nationals died as a result of the attacks. Six other people were injured and are being treated for mild and moderate injuries, authorities said Monday.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/world-bank-slashes-global-growth-forecast-and-warns-about-growing-inequality/">World Bank slashes global growth forecast and warns about growing inequality</a></h3>



Attacks by Houthi rebels — with whom the UAE has been at war in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition began bombing the country in 2015 — have been common in Saudi Arabia, but this is the most significant strike by Houthis in the UAE, and is the first in the country since 2018.



The UAE largely withdrew from the Yemen conflict in 2019, but continues to support forces in the country fighting the Houthis, who receive financial and military backing from Iran.



The UAE is the third-largest oil producing member of OPEC, and ADNOC — the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company — controls oil operations in Abu Dhabi, home to the vast majority of the state’s crude. The UAE is the world’s seventh-biggest oil producer, pumping just over 4 million barrels per day.



— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report

107002312-1642493017541-gettyimages-1237783674-AFP_9WC8FV

Oil hits seven-year high as Houthi attack on UAE rattles regional tensions

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-414669" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. April 21, 2020. REUTERS/Drone Base/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Jan 17 (Reuters) &#8211; Oil prices rose on Monday with investors betting that global supply will remain tight, although restraint by major producers was partially offset by a rise in Libyan output.



Brent crude settled up 42 cents, or 0.5%, to $86.48 a barrel. Earlier in the session, the contract touched its highest price since Oct. 3, 2018, at $86.71.



U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 53 cents, or 0.6%, at $84.35 after touching its highest price since Nov. 10 at $84.78. Trade was subdued due to the U.S. holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.



Frantic oil buying, driven by supply outages and signs the Omicron coronavirus variant will not be as disruptive to fuel demand as previously feared, has pushed some crude grades to multi-year highs, suggesting the rally in Brent futures could be sustained for a while longer, traders said.



&#8220;The bullish sentiment is continuing as (producer group) OPEC+ is not providing enough supply to meet strong global demand,&#8221; said Fujitomi Securities analyst Toshitaka Tazawa.



The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, are gradually relaxing output cuts implemented when demand collapsed in 2020.



But many smaller producers cannot increase supply and others have been wary of pumping too much oil in case of renewed COVID-19 setbacks.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-oil-trader-vitol-snaps-up-uk-s-vivo-energy-in-2-3-bln-deal">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/oil-trader-vitol-snaps-up-uks-vivo-energy-in-2-3-bln-deal/">Oil trader Vitol snaps up UK’s Vivo Energy in $2.3 bln deal</a></h3>



Meanwhile, Libya&#8217;s total oil output is back to 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), according to National Oil Corp. Libyan output was about 900,000 bpd last week owing to a blockade of western oilfields.



&#8220;Libya’s oil production had dropped to a good 700,000 bpd at the start of the year, which had played its part in the price rise,&#8221; said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.



Concerns over supply constraints outweighed the news of China&#8217;s possible oil release from reserves, said Fujitomi&#8217;s Tazawa.



Sources told Reuters that China plans to release oil reserves around the Lunar New Year holidays between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6 as part of a plan coordinated by the United States to reduce global prices.



Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Monday it is the prerogative of the U.S. government whether to release supply from strategic petroleum reserves.



Festering geopolitical threats to supply are also supporting bullish sentiment, analysts said.



U.S. officials voiced fears on Friday that Russia was preparing to attack Ukraine if diplomacy failed. Russia, which has amassed 100,000 troops on Ukraine&#8217;s border, released pictures of its forces on the move. 



(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Roslan Khasawneh in Singapore; additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg Editing by Susan Fenton, David Goodman and Paul Simao)

RZV56TNCCBLR3ECIZWIMNNLLM4

Oil climbs as supplies expected to remain tight

<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>Macro view of a screen of trading terminal with abstract financial graph and digits. Trading and forex concept. 3D Rendering</figcaption></figure>



Jan 10 (Reuters) &#8211; Emerging market stocks firmed on Monday after last week&#8217;s fall, as investors focussed on Omicron cases and U.S. inflation data this week, while the Russian rouble jumped ahead of Moscow&#8217;s talks with Washington over its military build-up near Ukraine.



The rouble firmed up to 1.5% against the dollar and was on course for its best session in six weeks, last at 75 per greenback.



Ahead of talks with Moscow, Washington said no breakthroughs were expected and the discussions might end early with both sides maintaining a hard-line stance.



The tensions have seen the rouble give up its gains and lag the broader EM currencies index since November.



&#8220;While US/EU sanctions and other constant geopolitical risks imposed a steady premium on Russian assets even before, (the rouble&#8217;s underperformance) confirms that this idiosyncratic factor has now got dominant,&#8221; said Tatha Ghose, a FX and EM analyst at Commerzbank.



Kazakh dollar bonds broadly trod water. Kazakhstan&#8217;s authorities said the situation was stabilising, with Russian-led troops guarding key facilities after the worst unrest in decades.



&#8220;The fact that (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is now helping dictate what is going on in both Ukraine and Kazakhstan will no doubt make the dollar attractive as safe-haven,&#8221; said Juan Perez, a senior FX trader and strategist at Tempus, signalling more weakness might be in store for the rouble.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-powell-says-fed-will-discuss-speeding-up-bond-buying-taper-at-december-meeting">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/powell-says-fed-will-discuss-speeding-up-bond-buying-taper-at-december-meeting/">Powell says Fed will discuss speeding up bond-buying taper at December meeting</a></h2>



Turkey&#8217;s lira rose to trade below 14 a dollar. Data showed Turkey&#8217;s unemployment rate stood unchanged in November at 11.2% from a month earlier, while underutilisation continued to fall.



Investors globally now await U.S. inflation data due on Wednesday, with expectation for both core and headline inflation to rise, strengthening the case for a March interest rate hike.



Faster-than-expected U.S. Federal Reserve moves could rattle financial markets in emerging economies and trigger capital outflows and currency depreciation abroad, the International Monetary Fund warned.



MSCI&#8217;s index of EM stocks rose 0.7%, with most major bourses well in positive territory.



But there were wild swings in China&#8217;s property sector with Shimao jumping 20% after a fire sale of all its real estate projects, while Modern Land plunged 40% after trading hiatus.



Pandemic worries also lingered with the northern Chinese city of Tianjin tightening exit controls to block the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant.



In central and eastern Europe, the Czech crown hit a fresh nine-year high against the euro. Poland&#8217; zloty hit a three-month high ahead of anti-inflationary measures expected to be announced on Tuesday.



For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see <a href="http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh">http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh</a> 



For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see <a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX">https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX</a>



(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Macro view of a screen of trading terminal with abstract financial graph and digits. Trading and forex concept. 3D Rendering

Stocks rise; rouble jumps over 1% ahead of U.S.-Russia talks

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="404" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istock-172471634-941536-1611211252-820x404.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400971" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istock-172471634-941536-1611211252-820x404.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istock-172471634-941536-1611211252-300x148.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istock-172471634-941536-1611211252-768x379.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istock-172471634-941536-1611211252.jpg 1458w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



Gold could test new highs of $2,100 per ounce this year, according to a resource analyst at fund management company Fat Prophets.



U.S. dollar weakness and inflation are some factors that are likely to boost the precious metal’s prices, David Lennox told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.



“We do think across the course of 2022, we will see the gold price testing at the all-time record highs, but we can’t see it traveling much beyond that once it gets there,” he said.



Gold prices closed at a record $2,063 in August 2020, according to data provider Eikon. It was trading at about $1,814 per ounce on Wednesday morning in Asia.



Lennox said it looks like everything is in place for the U.S. dollar to decline, though it hasn’t happened yet. If the greenback weakens, it would be a “boon” for gold, he added.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-gold-turns-negative-as-dollar-strengthens-focus-on-u-s-gdp-data">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/gold-turns-negative-as-dollar-strengthens-focus-on-u-s-gdp-data/">Gold turns negative as dollar strengthens; focus on U.S. GDP data</a></h3>



Meanwhile, inflation in the U.S. is close to 6% — up from around 1%, he said. Gold is seen as a hedge against inflation and increases in value as the dollar declines, but its track record has been spotty in the past.



“We do believe that high momentum in inflation and that lower U.S. dollar is going to drive the gold price higher in 2022,” he added.



Geopolitical tensions between major military powers could also drive up gold prices earlier than expected, Lennox said.



In particular, Russia’s military presence along its border with Ukraine has been building up, and that’s “a focus point where it could quickly turn to something disastrous,” he said.



“If that happened, then we would see the gold price reacting quite significantly and our … &nbsp;$2,100 an ounce [target] would probably get here sooner rather than later,” he added.

Gold ingots and coins

Spot gold at $2,100? Commodities analyst says gold could test new highs this year

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="525" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-820x525.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-414355" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-820x525.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-300x192.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-140x90.jpg 140w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-768x492.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-1536x984.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OX5UWFAAPFLHXF4GQK4EXOD7FA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>FILE PHOTO: Passengers wait to board international flights, amidst the spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron, at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 28, 2021. REUTERS/ Sumaya Hisham</figcaption></figure>



Dec 24 (Reuters) &#8211; The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions on eight southern African countries imposed last month over concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 Omicron variant, the White House said Friday.



Foreign nationals who are barred from the United States because they have been in one of the eight countries within the prior 14 days will again be allowed on U.S.-bound flights leaving after 12:01 a.m. ET on Dec. 31, a senior official said, confirming a Reuters report.



The United States on Nov. 29 barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who had recently been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi in an &#8220;abundance of caution&#8221; over the variant detected in South Africa.



White House spokesman Kevin Munoz tweeted that Biden &#8220;will lift the temporary travel restrictions on Southern Africa countries&#8221; effective Dec. 31.



He said the decision was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). &#8220;The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, esp boosted,&#8221; Munoz tweeted.



Reuters reported earlier U.S. public health agencies had recommended lifting the travel restrictions because retaining them would have not a significant impact on U.S. cases given the widespread current U.S. transmission, confidence that an Omicron-specific vaccine would not be necessary and that existing vaccines and booster shots are highly effective.



&#8220;This travel pause has served its purpose. It bought time to understand the science, it gave time to analyze the variant,&#8221; the official, who did not want to be identified because the decision has not yet been made public, told Reuters.



&#8220;This was not meant to keep Omicron out. We knew we couldn&#8217;t do that. The point was to reduce the number of cases coming in &#8211; in those early days and weeks.&#8221;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-read-more-u-s-tightens-covid-19-travel-rules-as-countries-race-to-quell-omicron-threat">Read more: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2021/u-s-tightens-covid-19-travel-rules-as-countries-race-to-quell-omicron-threat/">U.S. tightens COVID-19 travel rules as countries race to quell Omicron threat</a></h3>



The restrictions have not prevented flights or Americans from returning from southern Africa.



Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday that lifting the restrictions was likely &#8220;because we have enough infection in our own country&#8230; We&#8217;re letting in people from other countries that have as much or more infection than the southern African countries.&#8221;



The official emphasized the restrictions were meant to be temporary and lifting them after about a month &#8220;sends a pretty clear signal that there&#8217;s not going to be a significant penalty&#8221; for coming forward to disclose new variant information.



The United States had only lifted travel restrictions on South Africa on Nov. 8 put in place since late January to address COVID-19 concerns.



In the wake of Omicron, the United States tightened testing rules for international travelers and extended a requirement to wear masks on airplanes and at airports through March 18.



On Dec. 6, CDC toughened testing rules for international air travelers arriving in the United States, requiring them to obtain a negative COVID-19 test within one day of travel.



Under prior rules, vaccinated international air travelers could present a negative test result obtained within three days of their day of departure.



CDC last week started distributing free COVID-19 home test kits to international travelers at several airports. The CDC encourages &#8211; but does not mandate &#8211; international air travelers to get a new COVID-19 test three to five days after arriving in the United States.



The CDC last month ordered airlines to disclose passenger names and other information about those who have recently been in the eight southern African countries. 



(Reporting by David Shepardson in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Editing by Nick Macfie)

FILE PHOTO: Passengers wait to board international flights, amidst the spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron, at O.R. Tambo International Airport, in Johannesburg

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Economy

Africa’s MTN resumes dividend after bumper annual profit

Iron ore outlook is more bullish than lower China growth target suggests: Russell

FX markets in for bumpy ride over next three months

Oil markets hit multiple milestones after Russia sanctions

Rouble battered, EM currencies down as West imposes new Russia sanctions

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OPEC+ meets quickly, sticks to script, dodges debate on geopolitics

Emerging FX already riding higher local rates will outperform this year

New African payments system for cross-border deals negotiating with more banks

Major African central banks expected to hold rates this month

Oil market headed for surplus as Omicron impact muted -IEA

Oil hits seven-year high as Houthi attack on UAE rattles regional tensions

Oil climbs as supplies expected to remain tight

Stocks rise; rouble jumps over 1% ahead of U.S.-Russia talks

Spot gold at $2,100? Commodities analyst says gold could test new highs this year

U.S. to lift travel curbs on eight African countries – White House

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