Corona Watch

South Africa South Africa's economy could contract by as much 12% and unemployment balloon to more than third of the workforce due to the impact of the coronavirus, the director-general of the National Treasury, Dondo Mogajane, said in a radio interview on Monday."Anything between minus 7% up to 12% could be the impact [on GDP]. We have to focus on the post-virus environment so we can contain the impact ... It's gonna be huge," said the head of treasury on talk radio station 702."We could even reach 40% unemployment if things go the way they are. The manufacturing industry is impacted. Mining is impacted. The services sector is impacted. Look at tourism for instance, it's on its knees," Mogajane said. – Nampa/ReutersNigeriaNigeria's central bank has barred commercial lenders from laying off staff as part of measures to minimise the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on households and the economy.The regulator said that was suspending lay-offs by banks and that commercial lenders would need its approval in the event it becomes necessary to sack workers.Access Bank, Nigeria's largest lender, cut staff salaries and sacked contract workers accounting for 75% of its 30 000 workforce to save costs, banking sources told Reuters. – Nampa/ReutersUgandaUganda began to loosen one of Africa's strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns on Tuesday after president Yoweri Museveni declared the infection "tamed."Uganda, alongside neighbouring Rwanda, had some of Africa's strictest lockdown measures, including the shuttering of all but absolutely essential businesses, dusk-to-dawn curfews, and bans on both private and public transport vehicles.Businesses including hardware shops, restaurants, wholesale stores and others will now be allowed to reopen.Public transport and most private vehicles would still remain prohibited, however - meaning that workers for reopened businesses will have to commute either by bicycle or on foot. – Nampa/ReutersAlgeria The Algerian government decided Sunday to reduce the state budget by half due to a financial crisis caused by the global collapse in oil prices and worldwide coronavirus lockdowns.Despite this huge reduction, the government also agreed at a cabinet meeting to increase the minimum wage from 18 000 dinars (US$140) per month to 20 000 dinars, while income tax will be abolished for those earning 30 000 dinars or less, the statement said.The government also postponed from Sunday until 10 May consideration of a finance law, which seeks to frame a response to the coronavirus pandemic. – Nampa/AFPCameroonThe board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday approved a disbursement for Cameroon of around US$226 million to help the central African nation meet urgent balance of payments needs stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.The pandemic and terms of trade shocks from a sharp fall in oil prices are having a significant impact on Cameroon's economy, leading to a historic fall of real GDP growth, the IMF said in a statement."Cameroon is facing serious challenges from the twin Covid-19 pandemic and terms of trade shocks," it said, adding "the shocks have given rise to substantial fiscal pressures and an urgent balance of payments need". – Nampa/ReutersZimbabweZimbabwe's central bank cut its main lending rate to 15% from 25%, effective May 1, as part of measures to help the economy deal with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.The central bank said in a statement it had cut rates "with the expectations that banks will do the same to provide affordable financial facilities to their customers during these challenging times".It said it had set aside 3 billion Zimbabwe dollars (US$120 million), which banks could borrow at 10% per annum for on-lending to clients. – Nampa/ReutersKenyaKenya's central bank cut its benchmark lending rate to 7.0% from 7.25%, saying measures to tackle the impact of the coronavirus were having an effect but it needed to do more due to the adverse economic outlook.At its meeting in March, the bank cut the lending rate by 100 basis points, and also lowered the cash reserve ratio for commercial banks to 4.25% from 5.25%.The bank said 43.5% of the funds - 35.2 billion Kenyan shillings (US$328.48 million) - released into the banking system had already been used, with most going to the tourism, real estate, trade and agriculture sectors.It also said that as a result of emergency measures it announced in mid-March, loans worth 81.7 billion Kenyan shillings (US$762.41 million) had been restructured mainly in tourism, restaurants and hotels, real estate, building and construction and trade. – Nampa/ReutersEgyptEgypt's non-oil private sector activity collapsed in April, hit by a shutdown in the tourism industry, weakening demand and the imposition of a curfew as the government battled the new coronavirus pandemic, a survey showed yesterday.IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the non-oil private sector came in at 29.7 last month, down from 44.2 in March and far below the 50.0 threshold that separates growth from contraction. It was the lowest reading since the survey began nine years ago.The pandemic led firms to put in place large cost-saving measures, including labour reductions, and caused some to close altogether, IHS Markit said. – Nampa/Reuters

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