Top Stories You May Have Missed from Last Week

Subsidy Removal: W/Bank Projects N3.9trn Savings for Nigeria by December

The World Bank last week made a projection of about N3.9 trillion in revenue savings for Nigeria to enable it to reduce the current fiscal deficit resulting from its recent subsidy removal on petrol

.Source https://bit.ly/3PGQ531

External reserves fall by $3bn in six months – CBN

Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN said that Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $2.85bn in the first half of 2023. The bank in it report released last week attributed the decline in the nation’s foreign Asset Reserve to external debt finance among other challenges.

Source https://bit.ly/3pqkEzf

Global and Emerging Market Economic Updates

Ghana offers domestic dollar bondholders lower rates in debt restructuring

Ghana last week asked domestic U.S. dollar bondholders in the country to swap their holdings for two new bonds with lower rates and longer maturities, according to a draft memorandum of exchange.  The Gold-rich African nation is seeking new terms for the restructuring of its domestic debt by the end of June to be able to meet an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deadline and focus attention on negotiations with external creditors.

Source:  https://tinyurl.com/3vs9vcrc

Ethiopia asks to join BRICS bloc of emerging economies

Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies was last week asked to join the BRICS bloc of emerging markets, BRIC was an acronym coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001 to describe the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The BRIC powers had their first summit in 2009 in Russia. Ethiopia is not the only African country in the BRIC bloc. South Africa joined the bloc in 2010.

Source: https://tinyurl.com/bde7t8v5