JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s rand was largely flat against the dollar on Tuesday, with dealers and analysts expecting cautious trade ahead of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s medium term budget on Wednesday.

* Rand at 13.8950 versus the greenback by 0639 GMT, barely shifted from Monday’s close at 13.9050.

* Traders say currency will tread water as market participation remains low, with investors unsettled by prosecutors’ order for Gordhan to answer fraud charges in court next week.

* Gordhan will this week present midterm budget plans under the watchful eye of ratings agencies who could cut South Africa to subinvestment grade if signs of fiscal slippage emerge.

* Stocks likely to open a tad firmer at 0700 GMT, with futures index inching up 0.22 percent.

* Government bonds edged slightly higher, yield on benchmark 2026 instrument dips half a basis point to 8.795 percent.

(Reporting by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)

Read more

NAIROBI (Reuters) – The Kenyan shilling was firm against the dollar on Monday with support coming from oil importers seeking the U.S. currency.

At 0915 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 101.30/50, compared with 101.35/45 at Friday’s close.

(Reporting by John Ndiso; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Read more

LAGOS (Reuters) – MTN complied with Nigerian fund transfer rules and did not send money out of the country until it obtained regulatory approvals, the South African telecoms company said on Friday, denying allegations that it illegally repatriated $14 billion.

MTN requested “certificates of capital importation (CCI)” for capital brought into Nigeria and dividends were repatriated based on those investments, Ferdi Moolman, chief executive of MTN Nigeria, said in a statement.

“MTN Nigeria only requested for CCIs for foreign capital that was imported into Nigeria, and dividends were externalised on CCIs,” he said.

Nigeria’s upper house of parliament last month agreed to investigate whether Africa’s biggest telecoms company unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion between 2006 and 2016.

MTN’s Moolman, Nigerian trade minister Okechukwu Elenemah and four lenders appeared at a parliamentary hearing on the matter on Thursday.

Nigerian Senator Dino Melaye had proposed a motion calling for an investigation into MTN’s repatriation of funds.

The move comes as Nigeria struggles with its first recession in a generation and dollar shortages due to low oil prices.

The issue has battered MTN’s shares, which were down on Friday near a 6-1/2 year low at 106.83 rand as of 1006 GMT.

Rafiu Ibrahim, chairman of Nigeria’s senate investigative panel on alleged illegal repatriation of funds, said on Wednesday that a team of international and local accountancy experts and lawyers had been assembled to look into the matter.

Nigeria is MTN’s most lucrative but increasingly most problematic market.

Earlier this year the company agreed to pay a greatly reduced fine of 330 billion naira ($1.08 billion) to end a long running dispute over unregistered SIM cards in Nigeria.

MTN is the largest mobile network operator in Nigeria, which is the continent’s biggest economy and accounts for a third of MTN’s revenue.

(Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; editing by Jason Neely)

Read more

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has cleared its 15-year-old financial arrears with the International Monetary Fund, a first step towards a new IMF loan program for the drought-stricken, cash-starved country, the Fund said on Thursday.

Zimbabwe settled obligations of about $107.9 million by transferring part of its cash holdings at the IMF to the Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement. Zimbabwe had been in continuous arrears since 2001, he added.

“Zimbabwe is now current on all its financial obligations to the IMF,” Rice said.

However, a new IMF loan program for Zimbabwe cannot be considered until the country clears more than $1 billion in World Bank arrears and another $600 billion-plus owed to the African Development Bank.

A spokesman for the World Bank could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday night on the funds’ status of Zimbabwe.

The next step towards an IMF loan would be consideration by the Fund’s executive board of a formal proposal to lift remaining remedial measures imposed on Zimbabwe because of the arrears.

“Access to IMF resources would first require the establishment of a credible plan to clear arrears with other IFIs and with bilateral creditors, in line with applicable Fund policies,” the IMF said in a statement. “It would also require implementing a strong reform agenda to restore economic stability and foster sustained and inclusive growth.”

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Read more

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia’s economy should grow three percent this year, little changed from 2015, while the fiscal deficit will widen after Africa’s second largest copper producer was hit by depressed metal prices, Finance Minister Felix Mutati said on Thursday.

Zambia’s fiscal deficit will top 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product this year, up from 8.1 percent in 2015, after state spending rose due to infrastructure projects, emergency power imports and subsidies, Mutati told parliament.

Zambia began talks with the International Monetary Fund in March about a potential aid package after agreeing the budget deficit was not sustainable. The government hopes to conclude a programme with the IMF in the first quarter of next year.

The value of Zambia’s exports has fallen substantially due to lower commodity prices, putting pressure on external reserves which have dipped to $2.3 billion from $3.1 billion in July 2015.

“Tighter liquidity and high cost of borrowing have weighed on the private sector, threatening growth prospects,” said Mutati, adding that electricity prices, inflation and policy uncertainty had hobbled the mining sector.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock and James Macharia)

Read more

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s central bank has set the bar very high for ending a policy tightening cycle that has seen it raise lending rates by 200 basis points since early 2014, governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Thursday.

The bank sees consumer inflation, currently at 6.1 percent, averaging 6.4 percent in 2016, outside of its target range of 3-6 percent.

(Reporting by Oliiva Kumwenda-Mtambo; Writing Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia)

Read more