Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
May 30, 2017
Africa Economic Update (Issue 3)
Available data shows that headline inflation rates increased and remained high in most countries in the region in February 2017. Specifically, inflation rate increased in Egypt (30.2), Burundi (20.9 percent), Kenya (10.28), and Ethiopia (8.5 percent), while it eased in Nigeria (17.78 percent), Ghana (13.2 percent), South Africa (6.3 percent), and Namibia (7.8 percent). Seychelles (-0.6 percent) remained in deflation while Sudan (32.86 percent) and Tunisia (4.6 percent) had unchanged inflation rates within the review period. Increased cost of food continued to plague the region as food component of inflation remained the major driver of inflation. Drought in East Africa continues to compound price pressure in the region. Inflation rates in Burundi6, Kenya and Ethiopia increased by 8, 3.29, and 2.4 percentage points respectively, signifying the three highest price increase in the review period
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Consequences Of School Resources For Educational Achievement
This paper examines the
determinants of educational achievement in a developing country context,
Burkina Faso. We deviate from the extant literature by constructing an
aggregate index of school quality from the observable school resources. Also, we
account for school choice constraints, faced by children especially in rural
areas, as it relates to the geographical inequalities in the distribution of
quality schools. These treatments provide an unbiased estimates of the
relevance of school resources for academic performance. The empirical approach
is based on a two-stage procedure that accounts for supply constraints in
school choice.
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 4)
The Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained
unchanged at ?199/$
in the official market but depreciated from ?263/$ to $267 at the Bureau De Change (BDC)
market segment this week. As the naira depreciates, the CBN forex
restriction measures continue to widen the gap between the official rate and
BDC, which has led to increased calls for naira devaluation. The International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and Business owners are among the major advocates for a relaxation
of the forex restrictions set by the CBN, in order to enhance the level of economic
activities.