The world of easy money is ending
The cheap money available from quantitative easing, used by emerging-market economies to finance growth is coming to an end
The world of easy money is about to end and African governments must use the current golden opportunity to get their finances in order ahead of the withdrawal of quantitative easing (QE). This was the view of Samad Sirohey, the head of debt capital markets for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Citigroup, who was speaking at the bank’s Middle East and Africa media and community summit in Dubai on Tuesday. “At some point soon, QE is going to be unwound. When it does, the world of easy money we have become accustomed too is going to end and the competition for capital will increase,” said Sirohey. Evidently, these concerns weighed on the mind of deputy Reserve Bank governor Daniel Mminele, who spoke at a seminar hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Tuesday. In a speech entitled The impact of a changing global environment on African economies, Mminele described “downside risks” to the local economy and broader emerging-market spectrum flowing from “esca...
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