<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422955" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-924883576-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Uganda shillings. Uganda. (Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, Sept 16 (Reuters) &#8211; The Ugandan shilling was stable on Monday, drawing some support from inflows of dollars from remittances, traders said.



At 0920 GMT commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,710/3,720, the same level as Friday&#8217;s closing rate.



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa)

GettyImages-924883576-1

Ugandan shilling stable as remittance FX inflows lend support

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-419784" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/6YWINGPVCBJ6LCCI4MJOOGWZ5I-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Kenya&#8217;s President-elect William Ruto speaks after the Supreme Court upheld his win in Nairobi, Kenya September 5, 2022. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Kenya&#8217;s auditor general has started to examine the country&#8217;s debt to ascertain the amounts owed to various creditors, Finance Minister John Mbadi told Reuters on Monday.



The East African nation&#8217;s debt stands at 10.5 trillion shillings ($81.71 billion) but an audit of the borrowings was one of the key demands of anti-tax hike protesters that forced the government to abandon a number of planned tax increases in June.



The audit has already started, Mbadi said, but did not provide further details regarding the focus of the investigation or when a report is expected to be ready.



The auditor general is a constitutionally mandated independent office that is funded by the state.



During the height of the protests, President William Ruto appointed a committee to perform the audit. However, several appointees, including the head of the Law Society of Kenya, declined the appointments, saying the task should be carried out by the auditor general.



During his parliamentary vetting for the post, Mbadi had promised to ensure there is more &#8220;debt accountability&#8221; to help the public better understand the issue.



More than 50 people were killed in the protests, which forced President Ruto to abandon the government&#8217;s financing law.



It also led to a series of credit downgrades by the three main global ratings agencies.



A team from the International Monetary Fund is in the country on a fact-finding mission ahead of its board meeting to approve the latest review of Kenya&#8217;s programme and approve a disbursement of $600 million.



($1 = 128.5000 Kenyan shillings)



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Kenya’s top court to deliver verdict on disputed presidential election

Kenya begins national debt audit, finance minister says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-519304" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E-1536x804.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A teller counts Kenya shilling notes inside the cashier&#8217;s booth at a forex exchange bureau in Kenya&#8217;s capital Nairobi, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 16 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenya&#8217;s shilling was steady on Monday, and was expected to gain ground, bolstered by dollar inflows from tea exporters, traders said.



Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 128.50/129.50 per dollar at 0750 GMT, same as Friday&#8217;s closing rate.



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Bate Felix)

LYEEWJTJKRPK3GJPCKWFP3EK7E

Kenya’s shilling stable; tea sector FX inflows to boost

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-523852" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The new logo of the privatised Nigeria oil company is seen at the NNPC Mega Gas Station in Abuja, Nigeria August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Sept 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigerian state oil firm NNPC Ltd on Monday increased the price of petrol by 11%, the second increase in two weeks and a day after it started purchasing the fuel from the giant Dangote oil refinery on the outskirts of Lagos.



Nigeria expects the 650,000 barrels per day refinery to end years of imports of gasoline, which had been subsidised for decades until President Bola Tinubu began removing support when he took office in May last year.



The price of gasoline is a sensitive issue in Nigeria because many households and small businesses use it to power generators because the majority of citizens are not connected to the national electricity grid.



On Monday, NNPC said it had increased gasoline prices from 858 naira ($0.53) a litre to 950 naira in Lagos and as high as 1,019 naira in northeastern states. It said it buys the product at 898 naira per litre from the refinery.



NNPC said it had started buying the fuel from Dangote on Sunday in U.S. dollars and that a deal to purchase gasoline in the local naira currency was still to take effect.



The latest increase is likely to add to public anger as Nigerians are already struggling with inflation of 33.4%, which has driven up transport costs and caused a cost of living crisis that led to violent protests in early August.



On Friday, a Nigerian presidential committee announced that NNPC would distribute gasoline from the $20 billion Dangote refinery to the local market, ending a deadlock that had stalled distribution.



From October NNPC will supply 385,000 barrels of crude per day to be paid for in naira by Dangote refinery, which will in turn sell its fuel in the local currency.



($1 = 1,614.2000 naira)



(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Louise Heavens)

XTUYFFOIU5I5JMOASXHMTVFSTI

Nigeria’s NNPC raises petrol prices again as Dangote fuel hits market

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-373504" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-1110x740.jpg 1110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-696x464.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/101416618-rand-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Sept 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The South African rand gained in early trade on Monday, as markets geared up for a week packed with interest rate announcements and a local inflation print.



At 0720 GMT, the rand traded at 17.66 against the dollar, about 0.6% firmer than its previous close.



&#8220;There are many moving parts to consider this morning that will have an important role to play in determining SA&#8217;s economic future over the next few months,&#8221; said ETM Analytics in a research note.



On Wednesday, local investors will look to South Africa&#8217;s August consumer inflation figures. Consumer inflation fell to 4.6% year-on-year in July, only just above the level the South African central bank aims for, 4.5%.



Another reading near the target would further cement expectations for a rate cut from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Thursday. Economist polled by Reuters predict a 25 basis point cut.



&#8220;Most of this week&#8217;s attention will fall on the SARB&#8217;s interest rate decision&#8230; However, the domestic MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) is just one of three important central banks deciding on monetary policy,&#8221; ETM Analytics added.



The U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision on Wednesday. Markets are betting the central bank of the world&#8217;s biggest economy will cut rates but are divided on the size of the cut.



The Bank of England is expected to keep its main lending rate unchanged when it announces its decision on Thursday.



South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond also gained in early deals, as the yield slipped 6.5 basis points to 8.85%.



(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alex Richardson)

101416618-rand

South African rand gains, interest rates in focus this week

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="408" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-524600" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/istockphoto-1076949610-612x612-1-1-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Sept 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The following scheduled economic events, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Monday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-events">ECONOMIC EVENTS</h2>



The Johannesburg Stock Exchange will release data on foreigners&#8217; buying and selling of bonds and stocks during the previous week.



South Africa&#8217;s government will hold its weekly auction for Treasury bills.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-south-african-markets">SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS</h2>



The South African rand firmed on Friday against a weaker dollar, as markets weighed up bets on the size of a rate cut expected in the United States on Sept. 18.



On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index closed about 0.4% up.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-markets">GLOBAL MARKETS</h2>



Asian stocks dithered and the dollar slipped on Monday in a week that is almost certain to see the start of an easing cycle in the United States, with investors flirting with the chance of an outsized move.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wall-street">WALL STREET</h2>



Wall Street&#8217;s main indexes closed higher on Friday as investors homed in on the chance of a bigger interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, with rate-sensitive small cap stocks outperforming.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gold">GOLD</h2>



Gold prices surged to record highs on Monday, driven by a softer dollar and expectations of a larger interest rate reduction by the U.S. Federal Reserve.



&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;



Some of the main stories out in the South African press:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fin-24">FIN 24</h2>



&#8211; Ramaphosa opens door to revisit NHI, tells Motsoaledi it is time to talk



&#8211; Transnet in court over multibillion-rand deal with Filipino ports giant at key Durban terminal



(Compiled by Tannur Anders; Editing by Peter Graff)

istockphoto-1076949610-612×612-1

South African Markets – Factors to watch on Sept 16

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="530" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A-820x530.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-433145" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A-820x530.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A-300x194.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A-139x90.jpg 139w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A-768x497.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A-1536x994.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A general view shows the Central Bank of Kenya headquarters building along Haile Selassie Avenue in Nairobi, Kenya November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Njeri Mwangi/</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, Sept 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Kenyan central bank&#8217;s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its rate-setting meeting on Oct. 8, the bank said on Monday.



At its last meeting in August, the bank cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 12.75% from 13.00% previously.



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Kim Coghill)

XRWAJLZOAVK3DL2J5JMRWBBQ6A

Kenya central bank to hold its next rate-setting meeting on Oct 8

<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>



NAIROBI, Sept 16 (Reuters) &#8211; The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Monday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-events">EVENTS:</h2>



*Nigeria&#8217;s statistics office releases consumer inflation data for August.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-markets">GLOBAL MARKETS</h2>



Asian stocks made a cautious start on Monday in a week that is almost certain to see the start of an easing cycle in the United States with the only question mark being the size of the cut, with markets split on the chance of an outsized move.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-world-oil-prices">WORLD OIL PRICES</h2>



Oil prices edged up in early trade on Monday amid expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut this week, though gains were capped by weaker China data and persistent demand worries.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-south-africa-markets">SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS</h2>



The South African rand firmed on Friday against a weaker dollar, as markets weighed up bets on the size of a rate cut expected in the world&#8217;s biggest economy next week.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nigeria-petroleum">NIGERIA PETROLEUM</h2>



Nigerian communities are claiming 505 billion naira ($310 million) in damages from Shell, which they accuse of breaching an existing court order by striking a deal to sell its onshore assets in the Niger Delta, court papers showed on Friday.



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



The Kenyan shilling edged lower against the dollar on Friday, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), though it remained within a stable range seen over the past month.



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



Kenya has awarded a public-private partnership concession to build power transmission lines to India&#8217;s Adani Group and a unit of the African Development Bank, according to an economic advisor to the country&#8217;s president.



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



A team of staff from the International Monetary Fund is visiting Kenya on a fact-finding trip, the IMF said late on Thursday, part of efforts to craft a way forward in the wake of deadly protests that scuppered the government&#8217;s planned tax hikes.



((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))

World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance

African Markets – Factors to watch on Sept 16

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-531175" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/F6FVLRKWENP73DD6QLMRUYW374-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Heads of state of Mali&#8217;s Assimi Goita, Niger&#8217;s General Abdourahamane Tiani and Burkina Faso&#8217;s Captain Ibrahim Traore attend the opening of for the first ordinary summit of heads of state and governments of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in Niamey, Niger July 6, 2024. REUTERS/ Mahamadou Hamidou/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



BAMAKO, (Reuters) &#8211; Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will introduce new biometric passports as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favour of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries, Mali&#8217;s leader said on Sunday.



The three junta-led Sahel neighbours jointly announced in January they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has sought to persuade them to reconsider their decision.



Burkina Faso announced earlier this month that it was rolling out new passports without the ECOWAS logo.



&#8220;In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonising travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world&#8221;, Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.



He spoke ahead of a meeting Monday between the three countries&#8217; foreign ministers on the anniversary of the decision to form their own alliance.



Goita also said they were planning to launch a shared information channel &#8220;in order to promote a harmonious dissemination of information in our three states.&#8221;



ECOWAS has warned that the three countries&#8217; withdrawal would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living in the 49-year-old bloc.



Their departure comes as their armies battle groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, whose insurgencies have destabilised the region over the past decade and threaten to spill over into coastal West African states.



(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo and Boureima Balima in Niamey; Writing by Portia Crowe; Editing by Sandra Maler)

FILE PHOTO: Sahel junta leaders meet for a summit in Niamey

Mali, Burkina and Niger to launch biometric passports under new alliance

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1858" height="1045" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-531172" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed.jpeg 1858w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed-1536x864.jpeg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1858px) 100vw, 1858px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, U.S., July 31, 2024.  Kevin Mohatt | Reuters</figcaption></figure>



Federal Reserve officials head into their policy meeting Tuesday closer to their goal of low inflation, but how much they will ease back on interest rates remains an open question.



A week’s worth of inflation data showed that price pressures have eased substantially since their meteoric rise in 2021-22. One gauge of consumer prices showed 12-month inflation at its lowest since February 2021, while wholesale price measures indicated pipeline price increases are mostly under control.



Both readings were certainly enough to clear the way for an interest rate cut at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which concludes Wednesday with a rate decision and an updated forecast on where central bankers see things heading in the future.



“We got two more months of good inflation data” since the last Fed meeting, Claudia Sahm, chief economist for New Century Advisors, said in a CNBC interview Friday. “That’s what the Fed asked for.”



The question, though, turns now to how aggressively the Fed should act. Financial markets, which provide a guidepost on where the central bank is heading, were no help.



Futures markets for most of the past week had lasered in on a quarter percentage point, or 25 basis point, rate cut. However, that turned on Friday, with traders switching to an almost even chance of a either a 25- or a half point, or 50-basis point-reduction, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.



Sahm is among those who think the Fed should go bigger.



The inflation data “on its own would have gotten us 25 next week, as it should, and will get us a whole string of cuts after that,” she said. “The federal funds rate has been over 5%, has been there for over a year to fight inflation. That fight is won. They need to start getting out of the way.”



That means, Sahm said, starting off with a 50 basis-point reduction as a way to put a floor under potential labor market decay.



“The labor market [since] last July has gotten weaker,” she said. “So there’s an aspect of just recalibrating. We got some more information. [Fed officials] need to kind of clean it up, do a 50 basis point cut and then be ready to do more.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-confidence-about-inflation"><a></a>Confidence about inflation</h2>



The inflation reports indicate that the battle to bring inflation back down to 2% isn’t exactly over, but things are at least moving in the right direction.



The all-items consumer price index nudged up just 0.2% in August, putting the full-year inflation rate at 2.5%. Excluding food and energy, core inflation stood at 3.2%, a good deal farther away from the Fed’s target.



However, most of the core strength has come from stubbornly high shelter costs, boosted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ byzantine “owners equivalent rent” measure that asks homeowners what they could get if they rented out their residence. The yardstick, which comprises about 27% of the total CPI weighting, rose 5.4% from a year ago.



Despite lingering pressures, consumer surveys indicate confidence that inflation has been subdued if not completely arrested. Respondents to a University of Michigan survey in September expected inflation to run at 2.7% over the next 12 months, the lowest reading since December 2020.



Taking all the various inflation dynamics into account, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in late August that his “confidence has grown” that inflation is trending back to 2%.



That leaves employment. Powell said in the same speech, delivered at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the Fed does “not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions.”



The Fed has two jobs — stable prices and a healthy job market — and the primary mission looks about to change.



“If Powell wants to deliver on his, ‘we want no further weakening, no further cooling,’ they are going to have to, like, really move here, because that cooling trend is well established,” Sahm said. “Until it is interrupted, we are going to continue to see payrolls drift down and [the] unemployment rate drift up.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-case-for-a-quarter"><a></a>The case for a quarter</h2>



To be sure, there’s considerable sentiment for the Fed to lower by just a quarter-point at next week’s meeting, reflecting that the central bank still has more work to do on inflation, and that it is not overly worried about the labor market or a broader economic cooling.



“That’s really the key that they need to kind of hone in on, which is that they are normalizing policy and not trying to provide accommodation for an economy that is really in trouble,” said Tom Simons, U.S. economist at Jefferies. “I think they’ve done a very good job of expressing that point of view so far.”



Even with the quarter-point move, which Simons forecasts, the Fed would have plenty of room to do more later.



Indeed, market pricing anticipates rates could come down by 1.25 percentage points by the end of 2024, an indication of some sense of urgency at bringing benchmark borrowing costs down from their highest levels — currently 5.25% to 5.50% — in more than 23 years.



“The whole reason why they’ve been so cautious about cutting is because they’re concerned that inflation is going to come back,” Simons said. “Now, they have more confidence based on data that suggested [inflation] isn’t coming back right now. But they do need to be very careful to monitor potentially changing dynamics.”

108014585-17224590832024-07-31t204917z_998265604_rc2i69a6g2co_rtrmadp_0_usa-economy-fed

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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-820x547.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-530230" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-135x90.jpeg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell-scaled.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via CNBC</figcaption></figure>



The U.S. Federal Reserve’s easing cycle will be “mild” by historical standards when it starts cutting rates at its September policy meeting, ratings agency Fitch said in a note.



In its global economic outlook report for September, Fitch forecast 25-basis-point cut each at the central bank’s September and December meeting, before it slashes rates by 125 basis points in 2025 and 75 basis points in 2026.



This will add up to a total 250 basis points of cuts in 10 moves across 25 months, Fitch noted, adding that the median cut from peak rates to bottom in previous Fed easing cycles going up to the mid-1950s was 470 basis points, with a median duration of 8 months.



“One reason we expect Fed easing to proceed at a relatively gentle pace is that there is still work to do on inflation,” the report said.



This is because CPI inflation is still above the Fed’s stated inflation target of 2%.



Fitch also pointed out that the recent decline in the core inflation — which excludes prices of food and energy — rate mostly reflected the drop in automobile prices, which may not last.



U.S. inflation in August declined to its lowest level since February 2021, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday.



The consumer price index rose 2.5% year on year in August, coming in lower than the 2.6% expected by Dow Jones and hitting its lowest rate of increase in 3½ years. On a month-on-month basis, inflation rose 0.2% from July.



Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% for the month, slightly higher than the 0.2% estimate. The 12-month core inflation rate held at 3.2%, in line with the forecast.



Fitch also noted that “The inflation challenges faced by the Fed over the past three and a half years are also likely to engender caution among FOMC members. It took far longer than anticipated to tame inflation and gaps have been revealed in central banks’ understanding of what drives inflation.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dovish-china-hawkish-japan"><a></a>Dovish China, hawkish Japan</h2>



In Asia, Fitch expects that rate cuts will continue in China, pointing out that the People’s Bank of China’s rate cut in July took market participants by surprise. The PBOC cut the 1-year MLF rate to 2.3% from 2.5% in July.



″[Expected] Fed rate cuts and the recent weakening of the US dollar has opened up some room for the PBOC to cut rates further,” the report said, adding that that deflationary pressures were becoming entrenched in China.



Fitch pointed out that “Producer prices, export prices and house prices are all falling and bond yields have been declining. Core CPI inflation has fallen to just 0.3% and we have lowered our CPI forecasts.”



It now expects China’s inflation rate to bet at 0.5% in 2024, down from 0.8% in its June outlook report.



The ratings agency forecast an additional 10 basis points of cuts in 2024, and another 20 basis points of cuts in 2025 for China.



On the other hand, Fitch noted that “The [Bank of Japan] is bucking the global trend of policy easing and hiked rates more aggressively than we had anticipated in July. This reflects its growing conviction that reflation is now firmly entrenched.”



With core inflation above the BOJ’s target for 23 straight months and companies prepared to grant “ongoing” and “sizable” wages, Fitch said that the situation was quite different from the “lost decade” in the 1990s when wages failed to grow amid persistent deflation.



This plays into the BOJ’s goal of a “virtuous wage-price cycle” — which boosts the BOJ’s confidence that it can continue to raise rates towards neutral settings.



Fitch expects the BOJ’s benchmark policy rate to reach 0.5% by the end of 2024 and 0.75% in 2025, adding “we expect the policy rate to reach 1% by end-2026, above consensus. A more hawkish BOJ could continue to have global ramifications.”

107317102-16972206592023-10-13t180751z_489645272_rc2tr3a11orj_rtrmadp_0_usa-fed-powell

Federal Reserve will opt for slow policy easing as there’s ‘still work to do’ on inflation, Fitch says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="520" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-820x520.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-530190" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-820x520.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-300x190.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-142x90.jpg 142w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-768x487.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-1536x974.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VAAETQGD25I53OKJVIONSSSY6I-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A view of the logo of HSBC bank on a wall outside a branch in Mexico City, Mexico June 14, 2024. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Sept 13 (Reuters) &#8211; HSBC Holdings is in talks to sell its South African corporate banking business to a unit of FirstRand FSRJ.J, the country&#8217;s largest lender by market value, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.



A deal with Rand Merchant Bank, the corporate and investment banking division of FirstRand, has not yet been&nbsp;finalised&nbsp;and there is no guarantee the transaction will close, Bloomberg reported.



No financial details were disclosed.



HSBC and FirstRand declined to comment.



HSBC entered South Africa in 1995, and today serves mainly large companies operating on the continent.



According to an earlier Bloomberg report, African, Chinese and United Arab Emirates-based bidders are interested in HSBC&#8217;s business in South Africa.



HSBC also has an equities business in South Africa that it plans to sell, Bloomberg added on Friday.



HSBC has in recent years slashed its businesses in Western markets such as the U.S., France and Canada to redirect its focus on Asia and markets where it has scale.



(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Radhika Anilkumar; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Savio D&#8217;Souza, Jonathan Oatis and Louise Heavens)

The HSBC bank logo, in Mexico City

HSBC in talks to sell South African unit to FirstRand, Bloomberg News reports

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="528" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-820x528.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-530187" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-820x528.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-300x193.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-140x90.jpg 140w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-768x494.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-1536x988.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/BDNQOZYSKNKJNLIDZUC6W7K4MY-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Botswana President Ian Khama looks on during the Botswana-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Pretoria, South Africa, November 11, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



GABORONE, Sept 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Botswana&#8217;s ex-president Ian Khama appeared in court on Friday to face charges of illegally owning a gun and receiving stolen property, after returning from three years in exile ahead of an election in which his bitter rival is seeking a second term.



The magistrate suspended two arrest warrants against him on Friday for failing to turn up to answer the charges back in April 2022. Khama had been in exile, mostly in neighbouring South Africa, since late 2021.



The allegations include unlawful possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property and procuring the registration of a firearm by false pretence. The former president has denied them and says they are politically motivated.



Khama, whose father Seretse Khama was Botswana&#8217;s founding president, quit the ruling Botswana Democratic Party in 2019 after falling out with his successor President Mokgweetsi Masisi.



Khama backs the opposition Botswana Patriotic Front and had previously said he would return to Botswana to help oust the incumbent in a national election on Oct. 30.



He will next appear in court on Sept. 23, magistrate Mareledi Dipate said.



(Reporting by Brian Benza; Editing by Tim Cocks and Alison Williams)

Botswana President Ian Khama looks on during the Botswana-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Pretoria

Botswana’s exiled ex-leader Khama returns home, court suspends warrants

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-530184" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WPXJD4O4SJIPDIGFXZH6UFCJQM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa holds up the signed Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, which aims to strengthen governance in the education sector, surrounded by Premier of Gauteng Andrek Panyaza Lesufi, Deputy Minister of Basic Education, Dr Makgabo Reginah Mhaule and provincial education leadership at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius</figcaption></figure>



PRETORIA, Sept 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s president signed contentious education legislation into law on Friday, angering his party&#8217;s main coalition partner amid a debate centred on the integration of schools that teach in Afrikaans.



Part of the bill&nbsp;gives the education department the power to approve school boards&#8217;&nbsp;language policies, which President Cyril Ramaphosa&#8217;s African National Congress (ANC) says&nbsp;will help prevent&nbsp;discrimination.



The ANC says that students are being excluded from some schools because of the language they speak, which it says has been used as a proxy for racial exclusion.&nbsp;Afrikaans was promoted by South Africa&#8217;s white minority rulers under apartheid.



&#8220;The signing of this bill marks an important step towards resolving longstanding challenges in our education system,&#8221; Ramaphosa said at the signing ceremony at the Union Buildings, the seat of government in capital Pretoria.



Coalition partner the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has struggled to shake an image as a party of the white minority, has defended single-language schools, saying it is important for children to be taught in their mother tongue.



Shortly before the signing, it promised to fight the legislation in the courts. Earlier this week it said the bill went against the principle of consensus-building of the government of national unity and threatened the coalition.



&#8220;Primarily it&#8217;s about the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, which is seen as an attempt to exclude people that are not able to speak Afrikaans,&#8221; Andre Duvenhage, a politics professor at North-West University, told Reuters.



&#8220;In a way the &#8230; legislation is an attempt at opening up these schools for all people,&#8221; he told Reuters.



The Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill also makes one year of pre-primary school mandatory, reinforces a ban on corporal punishment in schools and regulates home-schooling.



Ramaphosa said he would allow for three months of consultation on the most controversial sections of the bill and if a solution was not reached then implementation would go ahead.&nbsp;The DA said it would pursue its court challenge.



(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Additional Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Ugandan shilling stable as remittance FX inflows lend support

Kenya begins national debt audit, finance minister says

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Nigeria’s NNPC raises petrol prices again as Dangote fuel hits market

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Federal Reserve will opt for slow policy easing as there’s ‘still work to do’ on inflation, Fitch says

HSBC in talks to sell South African unit to FirstRand, Bloomberg News reports

Botswana’s exiled ex-leader Khama returns home, court suspends warrants

South Africa’s president signs contentious education bill, testing coalition

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