Emerging Markets Update - InFocus: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria
Ghana The economic growth forecasts for Ghana in 2020 have been cut to the lowest in 37 years with the impact of the coronavirus and the collapse in oil prices to blame | With a partial (three cities) lockdown of the economy already in place, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has reduced GDP outlook to 1.5% however warns this may ‘further worsen in the event of a full lockdown’
Kenya The Kenyan shilling remains under pressure as COVID-19 related disruptions to tourism and farm exports continue to hurt foreign currency inflows | In addition, Kenya Airways is in need of a cash bailout from the government in order to survive the next six months
South Africa
The Rand has continued to surpass weaken with the rate touching record levels against the U.S. Dollar touching 18.7769 this morning with the key 20.00/$ level in sight as investor sentiment worsens and supply chain disruptions deepen
Emerging Markets
The rapidly growing threat from the coronavirus (COVID-19), which has evolved from an isolated outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan to a global health pandemic of a scale not seen for a hundred years (Spanish flu 1918-1920), continues to dominate news wires and weigh heavily on economic and financial market sentiment. The trajectory of infections is still steeply upwards and its potential scale, duration and persistence remains unclear.
In response, governments have implemented unprecedented ‘containment’ and ‘delay’ measures. Notably, China has seen its number of confirmed COVID-19 cases plateau for some time and conditions there are gradually beginning to normalise. However, it is too soon to tell how long lockdowns will remain a feature of the global economy, with only a phased return to normality likely thereafter as restrictions are cautiously eased.
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None of the information in this article is, nor should be construed as financial advice. All foreign exchange transactions involve risk and you should always seek your own independent financial advice before entering into any foreign exchange transaction.
