Africa Briefs

SA's budget shows limited fiscal flexibility: Moody'sThe annual budget South Africa tabled on Wednesday highlighted its limited fiscal flexibility in a challenging economic environment, rating agency Moody's said."The budget shows a further erosion in fiscal strength after the October medium-term budget policy statement already pointed to wider deficits for longer," Moody's said in a statement. – Nampa/ReutersZambia orders clean up of public payrollZambia's finance minister Margaret Mwanakatwe has ordered a clean-up of the government payroll to remove all ghost and absentee workers as Zambia tries to cut down on spending to reign in mounting foreign debt.Ghost workers refers to non-existent employees on the payroll, including ones who died but whose salaries continue to be paid out. This is a common problem in countries with weak public financial management and high levels of corruption.Mwanakatwe said in a statement on Tuesday the controller of internal audit should work with other relevant institutions to ensure that all ghost workers on the payroll are identified and removed."We only need to pay deserving workers," Mwanakatwe said.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over high borrowing by Africa's second largest copper producer. The IMF rejected Zambia's borrowing plans in February last year, saying they risked making its debt load harder to sustain.Nigeria ready to reduce oil output to boost pricesNigeria is willing to reduce oil output to help secure higher prices, the spokesman for president Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement on Wednesday, after an envoy from Saudi Arabia called on the African nation to adhere to a deal on production cuts.Nigeria, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is party to a pact to curb output to support prices, although OPEC data showed its output rose in January. Saudi Arabia is OPEC's biggest producer.The president told the visiting Saudi envoy, Ahmed Qattan, that "Nigeria was willing to go along with the Saudi initiative in limiting output so that prices would go up," the presidential spokesman said in a statement after a meeting in Abuja."I will speak with the minister of state petroleum. I will call for the latest production figures. I know that it is in our interest to listen. We will cooperate," Buhari told the envoy, according to the statement.The Petroleum Ministry said Nigeria was producing 1.78 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in January, alongside 350 000 bpd on condensates. – Nampa/ReutersTunisian central bank sees inflation below 7%Tunisia's central bank chief said he expects inflation to fall below 7% following Tuesday's interest rate rise but the government also needs to do more to curb prices.The bank raised its key interest rate to 7.75%, from 6.75 percent, to curb inflation, the third such hike in the past 12 months. It last raised the rate by 100 basis points in May. Inflation stood at 7.1% in January."Raising interest rates is very important but not enough to curb inflation," central bank governor Marouane Abbassi said. "It should be accompanied by other measures by the government including fighting cross-smuggling and monopolies in local trade."Tunisia's inflation rate has come down from 7.5% in December and had reached 7.8% last June, the highest since 1990. – Nampa/Reuters

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