LUANDA (Reuters) – Angola’s public debt is projected to narrow to 62.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2017, from 71.6 percent last year, the International Monetary Fund said late on Tuesday.

Weaker oil prices in the last three years has constrained growth and put state finances under pressure in Africa’s second- biggest crude producer.

“…continued fiscal adjustment will be needed going forward to put public debt on a clear downward path while supporting economic growth over the medium term,” the IMF said in a statement after the IMF team met government officials.

The fund urged Angola, where banks grapple with liquidity and foreign currency shortages, to phase out exchange restrictions and multiple currency practices.

It also said the southern African nation should more forcefully address its dependence on oil and diversify the economy.

(Writing by TJ Strydom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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By Ahmad Ghaddar and Julia Payne

LONDON (Reuters) – Egypt is committed to repaying the $3.5 billion it owes in arrears to foreign oil companies but a foreign currency shortage has made the drawing down of those debts more difficult, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Tuesday.

“We are committed and we will continue decreasing the numbers as we have done over the last three years,” El Molla told Reuters.

Insufficient foreign currency reserves mean that the repayment schedule was taking time, he said.

He said, however, Cairo was making monthly payments to foreign operators, enabling it to prevent overall debts from growing further.

El Molla said Egypt would resort to the spot market and to inter-governmental deals to close the gap between its gas production and consumption through imports of liquefied natural gas.

State-run EGAS issued an import tender in late October for 96 LNG cargoes for delivery in 2017 and 2018, with an option to buy 12 additional cargoes in 2017.

“As we go during the course of the year, we will see what are the remaining quantities that we need to close the balance of the month and the balance of the season,” he said.

“Therefore, we’ll go on as we need and as it may require on smaller tenders or we might have some direct [inter-governmental] deals.”

Once a net gas exporter, Egypt turned into a major importer of LNG as growing demand outstripped production.

The country is currently producing 4.45 billion ft3 of gas a day, El Molla said.

But the discovery by Eni of the giant 850 billion cubic meters Zohr oilfield in 2015 is likely to transform its fortunes.

The field is expected to come into production at the end of the year and will save Egypt billions of dollars in hard currency that would otherwise be spent on imports.

Egypt scrapped plans for a third floating and storage regasification unit (FSRU) due to plans to increase its natural gas production.

“We were able to squeeze the time, accelerate development then bringing into stream more gas, hence there’s no need for a third FSRU,” El Molla said.

El Molla said Egypt was still on track to conclude a contract with Iraq to import 1 million to 2 million barrels per day of crude from Iraq through an inter-governmental deal by the end of the first quarter.

The country will continue to go to the spot market to import oil products, however.

The move follows Saudi Arabia informing Egypt in November that shipments of oil products expected under a $23 billion aid deal had been halted indefinitely.

Egypt has long-term contract with Kuwait’s KPC to import diesel and crude oil, he said.

(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Julia Payne; editing by Jason Neely and Angus MacSwan)

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LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said its operations in Gabon were running as normal after it struck an agreement with staff, their labour union and the government to end strike action which started on Jan. 12.

“The agreement has immediate effect and operations are running as normal,” a Shell spokeswoman said.

Shell workers in Gabon, where it produces about 55,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, protested against potential redundancies from Shell’s plan to sell its Gabon business.

(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; editing by Jason Neely)

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has offered more than 1,000 employees in South Africa voluntary severance following its merger with SABMiller, the Business Day newspaper reported on Monday, citing an internal memo.

AB InBev bought nearest rival SABMiller for 79 billion pounds ($98.23 billion) last year in one of the largest corporate mergers in history and taking the company into Africa for the first time.

As part of the merger conditions, AB InBev was required to maintain the number of employees in SABMiller’s South African operations for five years after the date of the merger and not implement forced retrenchments.

The paper said AB InBev could not confirm the number of job cuts it was targeting through the voluntary severance, which has only been offered to management employees.

Spokeswoman Robyn Chalmers did not respond to telephone requests for comment but she is quoted in the paper confirming that Ab InBev has started the programme.

“The voluntary severance offer, which is entirely voluntary, has been made available only to mid-level employees and above,” Business Day quoted her as saying. “We understand that during this period of change some employees may wish to voluntarily exit the business, which is why we have introduced a voluntary severance offer.”

($1 = 0.8042 pounds)

(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo)

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LONDON (Reuters) – Mozambique’s default on a coupon payment for its dollar-denominated bond last week was “unnecessary” and a step backwards for the country’s relationship with the holders of the debt, a group of creditors said in a statement on Monday.

Mozambique announced a week ago it would not make the $59.8 million payment to holders of its 2023 bond due on Jan. 18 because A deteriorating economic and fiscal situation made its ability to repay debt this year extremely limited.

“This development is a retrograde step for the prospects of Mozambique engaging in good faith negotiations with bondholders,” the Committee of Mozambique’s Bondholders said in a statement.

“The default was unnecessary, given the improvement since October in Mozambique’s economic and financial situation,” the statement said. It added that Maputo was continuing to service other external debt, which signalled “a strategic default targeted at the bondholders.”

The committee was formed in November and includes AllianceBernstein, Franklin Templeton Investment Management and Greylock Capital Management as well as NWI Management and Pharo Management. It says it represents 60 percent of the holders of Mozambique’s so-called “tuna bond”.

The southern African country, one of the world’s poorest, has seen its currency and investor confidence collapse since April, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) halted a loan after uncovering previously undisclosed debts. The additional debt burden came to light only days after bondholders had agreed to a restructuring.

In its statement, the committee reiterated there was nothing to negotiate until it saw an international audit of state firms’ loans requested by the IMF and an outline of what sort of engagement the fund would envisage going forward.

It also repeated that Mozambique needs to accept “intercreditor equity” – referring to equal treatment for loan and bond creditors as well as bilateral lenders.

“While negotiations are premature, the committee has been prepared to discuss its views and analysis of all aspects of the situation facing Mozambique. To date, neither the government nor its advisors has engaged with the committee on such initial discussions,” the statement said.

On Friday, Fitch said Mozambique’s failure to pay the interest on the bond pointed to an extended period of uncertainty.

(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Paul Simao)

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By Vuyani Ndaba

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s economy will get a boost from perkier commodity prices, a benign inflation outlook and better rains for the agriculture sector this year, a Reuters poll found on Thursday.

A median of 27 economists in a poll taken over the past week suggested growth in South Africa would accelerate to 1.1 percent this year and 1.6 percent next year.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) estimated GDP expanded 0.4 percent last year.

“Higher commodity prices in combination with lower inflation, stable interest rates and a recovery in the agricultural sector should drive 2017 growth somewhat stronger than in 2016,” said Elize Kruger at NKC African Economics.

Twelve of 14 economists bet that growth in Africa’s most industrialised nation has left the slow expansion trap seen in previous quarters.

South Africa’s growth has been choppy in the past two years, with negative quarterly performances three different times on an annualised basis since 2014.

However, KPMG’s Christie Viljoen says positive growth is expected , though it will be very low.

Economists back their claims with the annualised growth rate in the SARB’s leading indicator that has turned positive, but they caution about the risks that lie ahead.

South Africa’s economy relies heavily on the well-being of the euro zone, its biggest trading partner as a single region, and China, its biggest trading partner as a single country.

STABLE RATES

Consumption should get a boost if the Reserve Bank does not hike interest rates this year. All 27 economists expect the repo rate to be kept on hold at 7.0 percent in the Reserve Bank’s meeting on January 24 (not 26).

Medians for the rest of the year suggest no change for the repo rate after Tuesday’s (not Thursday) policy announcement. There is just over a one-in-three chance of a cut this year.

“The bank may still have a change of heart in its rate stance come the second half of this year, opening up room for it to cut policy rates later in the year,” said BNP Paribas economist Jeffrey Schultz.

Still, consumer inflation is expected to slow to an average of 5.8 percent for this year – 0.2 percentage points shy of the Reserve Bank’s top-end comfort level – and 5.5 percent in 2018. It hit a 6.4 percent average last year.

(Editing by Tom Heneghan)

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CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Suez Canal revenues fell to $5.005 billion in 2016 from $5.175 billion the previous year, Reuters calculations showed on Thursday.

A government website published earlier on Thursday data showing the revenues reached $414.4 million for the month of December.

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk, Writing by Lin Noueihed, editing by Larry King)

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ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Togo has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a three-year programme that could, subject to board approval, be supported by a $238 million loan package, the IMF said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The agreed economic program … aims to improve the living conditions for the population and to maintain a stable macroeconomic environment that is compatible with public debt sustainability,” the statement said.

(Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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