2024-03-01 13:29

HARARE, March 1 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe needs to make its fiscal and monetary policy more predictable to instil confidence in its depreciating currency, a senior World Bank official said on Friday. It could make progress by moving away from the central bank's "quasi-fiscal operations", Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank's Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, told Reuters in an interview. She did not spell out what those operations were, but the International Monetary Fund said last month the central bank should reduce its non-core activities, which have included printing money and borrowing to lend to the government. The Zimbabwean dollar has lost more than 60% of its value against the U.S. dollar so far this year while annual inflation is at 47.6%, in a country still scarred by memories of hyperinflation under longtime former leader Robert Mugabe. "That's at the heart of the problem, the fact that there hasn't been confidence," Kwakwa said. "And every time people get (the currency), they try to get rid of it to get something else and so it's constantly losing value." The local currency was relaunched in 2019 after a decade of dollarisation, but it rapidly lost value and authorities reauthorised the use of foreign currencies in domestic transactions soon after. The central bank and finance ministry said last month they were working on measures to stabilise the currency, and were considering linking the exchange rate to the price of gold among other possible measures. "Policy predictability... the improvements that are being made moving away from quasi-fiscal operations, all of that will contribute to building greater confidence," Kwakwa said. The World Bank is "committed" to a process that has been going on since 2022 for Zimbabwe to clear billions of dollars of debt arrears to it and other international lenders, she said. Meanwhile, Kwakwa said she was "delighted" that China and India had signed debt restructuring agreements with Zambia, the announcement of which by the country's President last week sparked hopes that it could be close to ending its more-than-three year default. "With the official creditors out of the way, the government has a chance now to focus more on getting agreement with the commercial creditors. And we hope that that will also be in the offing soon," she said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/zimbabwe-needs-predictable-policy-support-currency-world-bank-says-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 13:12

BAKU, March 1 (Reuters) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, whose country is due to host the COP29 summit on climate change in October, said on Friday that his country is committed to the green energy transition, but that the world cannot abandon fossil fuels in the near future. In a speech in Baku, Aliyev said: "Azerbaijan, as I said, is in the active phase of green transition, but at the same time, no one can ignore the fact that without fossil fuel, the world cannot develop, at least in the foreseeable future." In his remarks, he described Azerbaijan's COP29 presidency as an "honour" that showed his country was serious about combating climate change. He said that Azerbaijan was voluntarily choosing to transition towards renewable energy, even as its proven reserves of oil and gas were enough to last a century. Azerbaijan is a major oil and gas producer that is key to the European Union's plans to reduce its dependency on Russian energy imports. Baku's bid received approval in December from nearly 200 countries, including longtime adversary Armenia, with which it is currently engaged in peace talks to end a conflict which has lasted more than three decades. The United Arab Emirates, the host of last year's COP28 summit, previously came under criticism for its own major oil and gas sector and high carbon emissions. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/azerbaijans-aliyev-says-baku-supports-green-energy-world-needs-fossil-fuels-now-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 13:03

Bank of Russia seen holding key rate at 16% in March Rouble seen at 92.7 vs dollar in 12 months Russia's GDP growth seen at 1.6% in 2024 Inflation expected at 5.3% at end-2024 March 1 (Reuters) - Inflation in Russia is seen ending the year above the central bank's target of 4%, keeping interest rates in double digits until 2025, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. The Bank of Russia is expected to hold its key rate at 16% on March 22, as it did in February after five rate hikes in a row before that, the poll of 13 analysts and economists showed. Russia's economy rebounded in 2023 from contraction in 2022, but the growth relies heavily on state-funded arms and ammunition production for the conflict in Ukraine, masking problems that are hampering an improvement in Russians' living standards. VTB Bank CEO Andrei Kostin predicted a gradual easing of borrowing costs in the second half of the year. "I think the policy is balanced, the central bank is using traditional levers, it is monitoring it, and I think that as inflation stabilises, the rate will go down," he said on Russia 24 on Friday. "We forecast about 13% by the end of the year." The median forecast of analysts polled in late February and early March suggested the economy will grow 1.6%, down slightly from last month's poll, with inflation ending the year at 5.3%, above the Bank of Russia's expected range between 4% and 4.5%. Easing borrowing costs and bringing down inflation are key economic challenges for the Kremlin, which also has bold spending plans. President Vladimir Putin outlined sweeping plans on Thursday to revitalise Russia's infrastructure over the next six years, pledging funds to help enhance the nation's economic performance just weeks before a presidential election he is sure to win. Those pre-election promises are set to cost at least an additional 10 trillion roubles ($109.39 billion), according to Reuters calculations. High budget spending was a key component of stubbornly high inflation in 2023, with the rouble's weakness and labour shortages also leading to price rises. Annual inflation was 7.4% in 2023 and 11.9% in 2022. Analysts expect the rouble, currently trading at about 91 per dollar, to weaken to 92.7 over the next year, an improvement on the prediction in the previous poll. ($1 = 91.4150 roubles) https://www.reuters.com/markets/russia-seen-gradually-easing-rates-second-half-2024-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 12:55

JOHANNESBURG, March 1 (Reuters) - Northam Platinum's (NPHJ.J) , opens new tab CEO said on Friday that platinum mining companies in South Africa, the world's top supplier of the metal, are facing "severe" market conditions and are caught up in the worst crisis in three decades as prices plummet. "I personally believe it's the worst crisis I have seen in three decades, on a relative basis," said Paul Dunne, the CEO of Northam, South Africa's fourth-largest producer of platinum-group metals. "The squeeze on the industry is severe," he told journalists. South Africa's biggest producers of the precious metals are halting spending worth billions of rand on output expansion projects and cutting jobs as they battle to keep a lid on costs as profits plunge due to lower metal prices. Anglo American Platinum (AMSJ.J) , opens new tab said it plans to cut 3,700 jobs, while rival Sibanye Stillwater (SSWJ.J) , opens new tab has also laid off about 2,600 workers. Impala Platinum(IMPJ.J) , opens new tab on Thursday said it may decide within six months to close loss-making shafts, if prices do not improve. Northam isn't cutting jobs at the moment, but the company is also holding back spending on projects, the CEO said. Prices of platinum - mostly used by automakers to curb toxic emissions - have fallen. Producers cite weaker economic growth in China and destocking by manufacturers who built up stocks during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Platinum fell 0.4% to $872.75 an ounce on Friday while sister metal palladium edged up 0.3% to $944.68 an ounce. "The current market conditions are severe and our primary view is we maybe in for a difficult time," Dunne said. "We can't see a sign in the market for a quick rebound yet." https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/northam-ceo-says-safrican-platinum-miners-facing-worst-crisis-decades-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 12:36

BRUSSELS, March 1 (Reuters) - Belgium's Chamber of Representatives has agreed to give the nuclear phase-out law an urgent procedure status, a spokesperson for Energy Minister Tinne van der Straeten said on Friday, confirming a report from Belga news agency. This means that the energy committee could discuss Van der Straeten's bill as soon as March 12, the spokesperson added. In December, Engie ENGIE.PA reached a deal on extending the operational life of the Doel 4 and Tihange 3 nuclear reactors. Van der Straeten has said she hoped to complete the legislative process before the country's elections in June. Tihange is a 1,038 megawatt (MW) reactor in eastern Belgium, while Doel is a 1,039 MW reactor near the port city of Antwerp. The reactors, which entered service in 1985, account for 35% of the country's nuclear energy capacity. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belgium-use-urgent-procedure-status-nuclear-phase-out-law-2024-03-01/

2024-03-01 12:35

CHICAGO, March 1 (Reuters) - Grain trader Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM.N) , opens new tab expects to correct certain intersegment sales in its consolidated financial statements because they were not recorded at approximate market value, the company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Friday. ADM, which is currently under government investigation for accounting practices in its Nutrition segment, alerted investors that it missed its 2023 annual report filing deadline but that it aims to release it by March 15. In January, the company cut its 2023 profit forecast, pulled forward-looking guidance for Nutrition, announced an internal investigation and put finance chief Vikram Luthar on administrative leave. The announcement sent shares of the 122-year-old grains merchant plunging by the most since 1929. The corrections to its financial statements are not expected to impact consolidated balance sheets, statements of earnings, income or cash flows because the intersegment sales in question occurred between company segments, ADM said on Friday. But the company said , opens new tab it expects to reveal a "material weakness" in how it reports intersegment sales and is working on a plan to "remediate" that issue. ADM will provide further details in the annual report, it said. ADM shares were up 2.4% at $54.37 on Friday afternoon after earlier touching a one-month high, but remained some 20% below levels seen before news broke of the accounting probe. The internal accounting probe, made in response to an SEC inquiry, brought uncertainty to ADM's high-margin Nutrition segment. The unit supplies ingredients, including plant-based proteins, natural flavors and emulsifiers to food, beverage and nutritional supplements industries, among others. The U.S. Justice Department is also probing accounting practices at ADM, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said last month. ADM expects net earnings attributable to controlling interests to decline for 2023, compared with 2022. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/adm-expects-disclose-material-weakness-annual-report-by-march-15-2024-03-01/