For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Haydon Whitley.

Making headlines: Over 900 arrested during nationwide anti-migrant protests; Kganyago signals South Africa could hike rates again this month; And, Nigeria's unreported spending equals 2% of GDP, IMF official says

Over 900 arrested during nationwide anti-migrant protests

South African police said more than 900 people were arrested yesterday, during nationwide anti-migrant protests which were mostly peaceful but occasionally descended into violence and looting.

Tebello Mosikili, a deputy national police commissioner, told a press conference that of the 120 marches that took place, 108 were peaceful while 12 needed law enforcement to intervene due to unrest.

Some of those arrested were undocumented migrants detained for violating immigration rules, while others were arrested for public violence, harbouring illegal immigrants and robbery.

Mosikili said police reinforcements had been deployed to five of the country's nine provinces overnight to respond to isolated incidents of looting and criminality.

Soldiers were sent to Johannesburg's Hillbrow neighbourhood to support the police.

Kganyago signals South Africa could hike rates again this month

South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said inflation expectations have risen above the central bank’s 3% target, justifying the May interest-rate increase and signalling further tightening may be needed when policymakers meet later this month.

The central bank raised rates in May for the first time in three years, lifting them by 25 basis points to 7% to prevent an oil shock caused by the Iran war from spilling into lasting inflation.

Kganyago said the inflation expectations have risen above the target.

He emphasised that bringing expectations back to target was the priority, after a recent reading of more than 4%, which showed the central bank’s decision to raise rates in May “was a correct one.” He declined to comment on what policymakers might decide at their next meeting.

And, Nigeria's unreported spending equals 2% of GDP, IMF official says

Nigeria had about 2% of GDP worth of public spending not recorded in recent official budgets, creating a gap between its reported deficit and actual financing needs, IMF resident representative in Nigeria Christian Ebeke said today.

The discrepancy means the country's fiscal deficit appears smaller than the level of borrowing, because some capital spending was not included in budget documents or implementation reports.

These unreported expenditures are linked in part to large government projects carried out off-budget, distorting assessments of Nigeria’s fiscal stance and public investment levels, Ebeke told business executives in Lagos.

Ebeke said so far they think that there are about 2% of GDP of expenditure that were not reported that should be reported and should be recorded, so the statistical discrepancy will disappear.

The lack of full reporting can also complicate coordination between fiscal and monetary policy, as policymakers may not have a clear picture of the true deficit, he added.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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