Posts Tagged ‘South Africa’

South Africa’s biggest private fixed-income money manager will stop lending money to six of the country’s largest state companies because it is concerned about how they are being run, government infighting and threats to the independence of the finance ministry.

Futuregrowth Asset Management, which has about 170 billion rand ($11.7 billion) in assets, shelved plans to lend more than 1.8 billion rand to three state companies on Tuesday (August 30), Chief Investment Officer Andrew Canter said from Cape Town on Wednesday (August 31), without giving more detail.

The fund manager will only resume offering loans and rolling over existing debt once it has determined that what it sees as proper oversight and governance at the companies have been restored.

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The Australian dollar has been weakening as a result of falling oil prices. “Jawboning” or the false market commentary has also been blamed to be partially responsible for AUD weakening.

The currency is under pressure with predications that the Aussie Reserve Bank will lower interest rates in response to other central bank decreases and lesser inflation expectations.

The cuts are contagious – currencies are weakened. Central banks in Mexico and South Africa are to release policy decisions and Mexico’s central bank is keeping policy rates on hold.
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