Browsing: IMF

During the time that former President Mwai Kibaki was in office, Kenya avoided taking out this kind of credit. Instead, the majority of the assistance that the country received from organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank came in the form of project funding.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that Kenya was on the right track to reaching its fiscal objective as part of the plan and that the country’s robust tax performance this year was helping its resilience in the face of disturbances on global shocks.

The fund stated that the completion of the study would enable Kenya to access around US$239 million at the current currency rates by the middle of July, as was predicted in April.

Despite improved tax collections by the Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya is facing high expenses of refinancing dollar loans as it looks to tap global markets to plug the …

Zambia is Africa’s largest copper producer, which is one of the reasons it has one of the strongest currencies on the continent. The country possesses abundant natural resources, and because copper is the most prevalent metal, copper mining is carried out on a massive scale. This provides Zambia with a significant rise in foreign currency earnings from the sale of metals to other countries.

Bscholarly notes that the value of a currency is significant because it determines the economic performance of a country. This has a direct impact on a currency’s demand on the global market. Exchange rates compare one currency to another and provide an overview of a currency’s strength in the global marketplace. According to financial analysts, factors like interest rates, economic policies, and stability determine the strength of any currency.

Mining liberalization, a debt restructuring programme following default on debt repayments in 2020, and high commodity prices …

According to an article by Newsday dated May 2, 2022, Zimbabwe’s fuel consumption increased to almost 1,2 billion litres during the 11 months to November last year, compared to just over one billion litres in 2020, data from the energy regulator showed.

In its market update, Zera said the country guzzled 1 152 198 301 litres during the period, 10% more than the 1 035 624 744 litres used during the same period in 2020.

Zimbabwe now has the highest fuel prices, not only in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) but also on the African continent according to globalpetrolprices.com.

In the same article, Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) spokesperson Chris Kamba expressed concern over the impact of the fuel hike on consumers.…

These foreign exchange controls and restrictions will pose challenges for international businesses and foreign investors in Tanzania.

When introducing approvals and making them necessary for just about every kind of transaction, foreign exchange restrictions add a level of complexity to investors’ business model and implementation strategy.

The Tanzania Foreign Exchange Regulations require authorisations and justifications for several areas including exporting, importing or simply where a non-resident is directly investing in Tanzania.

While there could be a problem with income being paid outside of Tanzania for activities that are taking place in Tanzania, putting foreign exchange controls rarely constitutes the answer to encourage investors to keep their funds in the country.…

Consequently, China has carefully abandoned its strong preference for bilateral dealing with problem debtors. The Chinese state avoids being a rule-taker compared to the West on debt issues. Still, it increasingly appears to recognize that multilateral approaches – ideally on an ‘a la carte’ basis – can help contain both the pressures on its African partners and its challenges.

China, therefore cautiously supported the DSSI for some African nations when it came to effect in April 2020, and similarly, the Common Framework launched in 2021. However, the slow implementation of the Common Framework brings to light four specific challenges linked to China’s role.  

First is China’s discomfort with the independent and central role played by the IMF in controlling how much a country can afford to pay through its debt sustainability analysis (DSA). Second is the alarm of privates, and public sector lenders in the West over a lack of …

The goal here is to have more companies register on the island to increase Zanzibar’s internal revenue through taxes and related fees. The move is also expected to create employment on the island as companies open subsidiaries they will naturally have to hire.

Overall, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF ), last year’s growth of around 4 per cent is expected to pick up to about 5½ per cent this year and to then maintain a steady growth of the next few years, assuming no other pandemic strikes that are.

Ceterisperibus, should the economic reforms announced by the new administration and the envisaged improvements in the business climate materialize, then medium-term growth could reach 6 per cent, says the IMF.…

The RoRo, along with the ramp and terminal were completed as of March 2021 after three years of dedicated construction works. With its completion, vehicles can now be driven, not carried, off the ship.

With this development, large vessels that took up to four days to offload and turn around now take only 17 hours to offload, that is say, an average of three vehicles per minute offloaded per minute.

The terminal is also a major game-changer because instead of driving two km in search of parking, vehicles can now be parked in the spacious berth with a handling capacity of 3,000 vehicles at a time.…

Africa is home to at least 47 foreign military outposts, with the US controlling the largest number. Djibouti is the only country in the world to host both American and Chinese outposts.

A recent survey by Afrobarometer across 34 countries indicated that 63 per cent of the population see China’s influence in Africa as positive, whilst 60 per cent made similar comments about the US. Are there benefits to be extracted from this searing rivalry?

Africa’s Agenda 2063 on the ‘Africa we want’ set by the African Union, advocates under its first aspiration, a ‘Prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development’ and ‘A Strong, United, Resilient and Influential Global Player and Partner’ under aspiration 7.…

This comes as the IMF has downgraded economic prospects for countries in this cluster. The downgrades have, however, been offset relatively by projections for some commodity producers and exporters that were upgraded on the back of rising commodity prices.

The economic prospects between wealthy nations and low-income countries are expected to be divergent and this divergence will remain of great concern to multilateral lenders and world leaders. In wealthy nations, for example, aggregate output for the cluster economies is expected to regain its pre-pandemic trend path in 2022 and exceed it by 0.9% in 2024 whereas the cluster of nations comprise emerging markets and developing economies (excluding China) will remain 5.5% below their pre-pandemic forecasts in 2024.

This event should it occur as forecast will set back improvements in living standards.…

Tanzania: The government, through the Central Bank of Tanzania has successfully kept the economy not only afloat but reasonably expanding even in the face of the global pandemic. because monetary policy staving off effects of covid on the economy.

The Tanzania government has kept its resolve to keep the economy liquid by ensuring there is enough credit for the private sector. As reports the Central Bank, the government has maintained what it describes as an ‘accommodative monetary policy.’

Thanks to this ‘accommodative’ monetary policy, the government of Tanzania has managed to boost credit flows to the private sector and thus managed to support recovery of the economy from the adverse effects of COVID-19.

The monetary policy of Tanzania has been to increase supply of credit to the private sector by using several means including lowering minimum reserve rates at the Central Bank for commercial banks and on the other …