IMF – European Affairs Magazine

The International Monetary Fund: Nigeria to grow by 0.8% in 2017

19 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The International Monetary Fund forecast 2.6 percent growth in sub-Saharan Africa this year: “Growth is projected to rise to 2.6 percent in 2017 and 3.5 percent in 2018, largely driven by specific factors in the largest economies, which faced challenging macroeconomic conditions in 2016”, the IMF said its latest World Economic Outlook report. Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation and a leading oil producer, was expected to return to growth in 2017 after a challenging 2016 characterised by recession, a dip in oil prices and energy shortages. “Output in Nigeria is projected to grow by 0.8 percent in 2017 as a result of a recovery in oil production”, said the report, also citing sustained growth in the agricultural sector. Many of non-resource intensive countries will find it increasingly hard to sustain growth through higher public capital spending with a rising public debt, double digit inflation was forecast in several countries, including Nigeria, Angola and Ghana.

Turkey: "to give Central Bank first option on buying domestic gold’

6 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Turkey is taking steps to give its Central Bank the right of first refusal on domestically produced gold, two sources said, allowing it to boost reserves of the precious metal without depleting foreign currency holdings . Like other central banks, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey holds a mix of assets, including foreign currencies and gold, as official reserves. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended that Turkey bolster its foreign reserves to shield itself from external volatility. Buying more domestically produced gold, which is priced in lira, will allow the bank to avoid depleting foreign reserves at a time when the domestic currency, has been hammered.

Egypt: Al-Sisi implementing serious reform programme with IMF

5 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

During his five-day visit to the US, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held a meeting in Washington on Monday evening with members of the American-Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, headed by its president and CEO, Thomas J. Donohue. Al-Sisi claimed that Egypt is become a safe and stable country. He also recalled the importance of the implementation of IMF (International Monetary Fund) reform to help Egyptian economy to grew up. He noted that Egypt’s programme depends on 4 main axes: monetary policies, which aim at reducing the budget’s deficit and the national debt; fiscal policies, which aim at establishing a flexible exchange rate that attracts investors and also reduces the inflation; social protection through improving the efficiency of a subsidy system and creating a safety net for the poor; and a structural reform, which would fight bureaucracy and corruption.

Egypt has implemented the IMF's plan; inflation rate high of 33% in February had caused protestations across the country

16 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The IMF (International Monetary Dund) will start is review mission to Egypt on 28 April until 8 May. This intervene contemporaneous of the implementation of IMF’s plan to Egyptian economy decided in November. The programme included the introduction of the value-added tax (VAT) law, the reduction of fuel subsidies, and the free flotation of the Egyptian currency. Egypt has successfully implemented the IMF’s plan however, its due to this application that prices in Egypt has knew a large inflation rate high of 33% in February, which had caused protestations across the country last week.

The recent economical reforms, have created the biggest inflation rate since more than 30 years in Egypt

10 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The recent economical reforms, have created on of the biggest inflation since more than 30 years in Egypt. In fact, according to the analyse, the inflation rate of February was around 31.7 percent. That inflation, has increased the social tensions present in the country. Indeed the impact on population is dramatic, for example in early 2015, one kilo of meat cost few dozens pounds, and it’s actually 100 pounds. According to specialists and IMF (International Monetary Found) the economical situation would go to a stabilization with an enforcement of the pound. With increasing inflation and a fluctuating currency, salaries have not adjusted and more people could soon join the 27.8 per cent of the population who already lives under poverty line. The Egyptian’s population is back on social networks to protest.