Global Economics

Virág Fórizs is an Emerging Markets Economist, focusing on the Middle East and Africa.

Prior to joining Capital Economics, Virág worked at Verisk Maplecroft, the European Commission, and the United Nations. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from the University of Toronto, and a master’s degree in international and development economics from Yale University.

Articles published by Virág Fórizs

• SA corruption and inflation on display, Ghana’s troubles
• Tighter global financing conditions, Zambia’s debt
• Signs of Nigeria’s recovery decelerating further
• SA Activity Data (Apr.) & Nigeria Inflation (May)
• Uninspiring politics in Nigeria, SA’s external position
• South Africa GDP (Q1)
• Tanzania: near-term struggles, long-term outlook brighter
• Fuel levy in South Africa, primary season in Nigeria
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (May)
• Nigeria’s economy and central bank chief under pressure
• War in Ukraine inflames food insecurity in Africa
• CBN finally steps up to curb inflation
• Markets and monetary policy, mounting pressure on naira
• Hawks’ majority in SARB to be short-lived
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Apr.)
• Monetary politics in Nigeria, Ghana’s efforts to curb debt
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Apr.)
• SA’s privatisation push, Africa’s growing food insecurity
• Europe turns to Africa to replace Russian gas
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Mar.)
• Floods hit SA recovery, Nigeria’s presidential race
• Assessing public debt risks in Africa
• Cost of FX policies rising in Nigeria, fuel price cap in SA?
• South Africa Activity Data (Jan.)
• Higher oil prices, SA’s terms of trade and fuel inflation
• South Africa GDP (Q4)
• Producers riding oil high? A win for SA public finances
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Feb.)
• Russia-Ukraine crisis raises inflation and debt risks
• SA budget shows healthier public finances… for now
• South Africa’s budget to sow seeds of fiscal slippage
• Nigeria GDP (Q4)
• South Africa Activity Data (Dec.)
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Jan.)
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Jan.)
• SONA: Ramaphosa shies from letting off the fireworks
• Nigeria’s recovery switching to an even slower lane
• Commodity prices to turn into headwind
• South Africa: ‘BIG’ expectations for SONA speech
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jan.)
• Nigeria sticking with subsidies, dovish rate decisions
• SARB continues its dovish tightening cycle
• CBN remains fixated on supporting the recovery
• Balance on South African MPC tipping towards rate hike
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Dec.)
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Dec.)
• ANC leadership contest, Ghana’s debt, Ethiopia’s conflict
• SA experience offering Omicron hope? Nigeria’s budget
• The latest on South Africa’s Omicron experience
• Virus waves across SSA, SARB tightening cycle
• Omi-chronicles from South Africa and beyond
• Nigeria’s recovery losing some steam
• South Africa Activity Data (Oct.)
• South Africa GDP (Q3)
• Lockdown lessons from SA, influx of jabs and cash?
• Debt sustainability in Zambia: mission impossible?
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Nov.)
• Recoveries trembling under new virus variant threat
• CBN maintains interest rates, but hints at policy shift
• African central banks and the EM rate hike club
• SARB: lift-off for rates, but tightening cycle to be slow
• Nigeria GDP (Q3)
• South Africa Activity Data (Sep.)
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Oct.)
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Oct.)
• SARB to hike or not to hike? That’s investors’ question
• SA’s MTBPS: sticking with austerity… for now
• External strains abate, but pockets of risk remain
• SA’s post-election policy direction, Ethiopia crisis spirals
• SA local elections shrink political capital for austerity
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Oct.)
• Ghana struggling with debt, oil price winners and losers
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Sep.)
• FX orthodoxy in Nigeria? Strikes in SA, Ethiopia’s conflict
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Sep.)
• South Africa Activity Data (Aug.)
• Signals from the SARB, Nigeria’s humdrum budget
• Debt data disclosures, SA fiscal buffer evaporating
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Sep.)
• Ghana’s debt problem: muddling through
• Vaccine tides turning in SSA? Evergrande reverberations
• SARB to keep loose policy stance to bolster recovery
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Aug.)
• ‘BIG’ push in SA, FX distortions in Nigeria, tourism woes
• CBN maintains interest rates and disruptive FX rules
• SA to struggle to get back on economic feet after July hit
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Aug.)
• Ethiopia: debt risks loom larger with escalating conflict
• Zambia’s new president off to a good start, SOEs in SA
• Pandemic not in the rear-view mirror for some time
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Aug.)
• Rising political risks in Ethiopia, SA GDP revision’s pros?
• Nigeria GDP (Q2)
• South Africa: bigger GDP doesn’t ease economic woes
• BIG a non-starter, rand on the rocks, Hichilema hired
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Jul.)
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Jul.)
• Zambia: on the rocky road to restore macro stability
• Economic fortunes changing in Zambia and South Africa?
• A closer look at South Africa’s public finances
• SA: new cabinet, old problems; SDRs no bonanza
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jul.)
• South Africa’s fiscal tightrope, FX reshuffling in Nigeria
• Nigeria: rate hike risks easing, FX rules surprise
• Vaccines and variants in SSA, post-unrest fallout in SA
• Dovish SARB to keep rates low for some time
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Jun.)
• South Africa’s unrest: the fallout for the public finances
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Jun.)
• SA: further weakness to follow mixed May activity data
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (May)
• The perils of deficit monetisation in Nigeria
• Filling gaps: vaccine supply in SSA & electricity in SA
• SA: mixed industry performance to converge to weakness
• South Africa GDP (Q1)
• SA tightens virus curbs, Ghana surprises with rate cut
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (May)
• Naira devalued for real, utility deals in Ethiopia & SA
• CBN keeps inflation-fighting tools on the shelf
• Nigeria’s debt plans, SA wages, Africa summit in Paris
• Vaccine supplies drying up, delaying recoveries
• SARB laying seeds of policy normalisation
• SA: mixed March data point to a small Q1 expansion
• Gains from commodity price moves to flame out
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Apr.)
• South Africa: industry strength unlikely to last
• Mozambique’s natural gas dreams evaporating?
• (Pe)Ace out, budget balancing act in SA, vaccine patents
• Fly in the ointment of strong SA survey data
• India-Covax-Africa channels, price pressures in SA
• Wage talks in SA, Nigeria tightens FX restrictions
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Mar.)
• Delayed vaccination in SA, dovish SARB, downbeat IMF
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Mar.)
• South Africa’s recovery back on (a slow) track
• Debt relief stop gaps, South Africa’s jabs
• South Africa’s manufacturing sector: a crawling recovery
• Not hopping on the bandwagon of EM rate hikes
• No getaway from tourism woes for some time
• SA monetary policy going its own way, naira to and fro
• SARB shrugs off bond market ruckus
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Feb.)
• Nigeria: hawkish minority unlikely to become majority
• Nigeria stuck in stagflation, changing winds in Tanzania
• Nigeria’s fiscal policy: the good, the bad and the ugly
• South Africa: weak recovery to follow January slump
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Feb.)
• Eurobond-bonanza? SA’s current account in full swing
• South Africa: lockdown-hit to industry will ease… a bit
• Pandemic toll on Africa’s tourism sectors will stay high
• South Africa GDP (Q4)
• Fewer SA curbs, more SDRs, who knows what in Nigeria
• Nigeria: another unconvincing devaluation
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Feb.)
• Investment hopes & dreams in SA, rand in the line of fire
• South Africa’s “non-austerity” austerity budget
• Setting the scene for SA’s budget, Zambia’s rate hike
• Nigeria GDP (Q4 2020)
• SA probably dodged double-dip recession in Q4
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Jan.)
• Vaccine confusion, the humdrum of SONA
• South Africa: strong end to 2020, but weak start to 2021
• Another blow to vaccine distribution in Africa
• (Un)Common Framework, a little cheer in South Africa
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jan.)
• Different IMF takes on fiscal policy, Nigeria’s funding gap
• High inflation limits CBN’s scope for easing, for now
• South Africa’s state guarantee snub, vaccine round-up
• SARB hunkering down for long period of low rates
• Oil price rally will ease African producers’ pain…a bit
• Vaccine AUphoria?, polls in Uganda, debt relief demand
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Dec.)
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Dec.)
• South Africa: renewed restrictions to stymie recovery
• COVAX concerns, momentum at Eskom, Zambian mines
• 2021 in focus: what lies ahead for Sub-Saharan Africa
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Nov.)
• Zambia’s dance with the IMF, restrictions looming in SA
• Ghana: fiscal tightening can’t be delayed forever
• October data confirm slowdown in SA economy
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Nov.)
• South Africa GDP (Q3)
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Nov.)
• Nigeria flip-flops, policymakers in financing pickle
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Oct.)
• Nigerian policymakers in a bind, but easing to resume
• Nigeria’s economy suffering two-speed recovery
• “Vaccine boost” to take time, let’s talk about debt
• Split SARB decision signals policy to stay loose
• Much ado about South Africa’s recovery
• Nigeria Consumer Prices (Oct.)
• Vaccines and wars… recoveries and restrictions…
• South Africa’s industrial activity inching up
• Clashes in Ethiopia place dark cloud over outlook
• Ethiopian tinderbox, soft South African recovery
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Oct.)
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Sep.)
• Nigeria CPI (Sep.)
• South Africa’s recovery lagging behind
• Nigeria’s deficit financing options diminishing
• Nigeria’s reform progress: a stock take
• Zambia’s debt roller coaster, budget rumours in Nigeria
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Sep.)
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Aug.)
• CBN: economic weakness reigns supreme
• Angola’s expanded IMF deal, SA lockdown easing
• SARB easing cycle probably over, rates to stay low
• Nigeria CPI (Aug.)
• South African economy stumbles, oil price falls
• More signs of a bumpy recovery in South Africa
• Pandemic pulse: The latest on Africa
• South Africa GDP (Q2)
• US aid to Ethiopia on ice, debt relief state of play
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Aug.)
• South Africa Consumer Prices (Jul.)
• Pressure on the Kenyan shilling to persist
• Nigeria GDP (Q2 2020)
• Nigeria’s limited fiscal space bites, SA banks in spotlight
• SA: lockdown easing, but clouds hang over outlook
• Covid cases fall in SA, security risks to Mozambican gas
• SA suffers one of the world’s worst downturns in Q2
• SARB under pressure
• Investments under threat in Nigeria and South Africa
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jul.)
• Nigeria’s monetary easing on pause… for now
• South Africa CPI (May)
• SA manufacturing sector one of the worst hit across EMs
• SA trade data, oil producers in the line of fire
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jun.)
• South Africa GDP (Q1)
• Grim budget in SA, Nigeria’s FX buzz and debt woes
• Nigeria CPI (May)
• Nigeria’s finances, debt relief uptake on the rise
• South African lockdown causing activity to collapse
• South Africa’s lockdown to give way to slow recovery
• South Africa: how low can rates go?
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (May)
• Nigerian monetary easing: better late than never
• End of South Africa’s easing cycle approaching
• Nigeria: what next for the naira?
• Nigeria’s budget proposal, SA economy reawakening
• Survey blues in South Africa, Nigeria’s budget woes
• African downturn and recovery paths to diverge
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Apr.)
• South Africa CPI (Mar.)
• Nigeria CPI (Mar. 2020)
• Coronavirus round-up, defaults nearing
• South Africa: data gap can be bridged for now
• Can lockdowns work in Africa?
• Africa: debt restructuring wave to sweep the region
• S. Africa: Worsening outbreak will prompt SARB to cut
• Coronavirus adds to headwinds facing African economies
• South Africa: Economy in the doldrums
• South Africa’s budget brawl, no growth momentum in Nigeria
• Ghana: Putting monetary easing on hold
• Kenya: The economic cost of the locust outbreak
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Jan.)
• South Africa Manufacturing PMI (Dec.)
• SA trade figures, Kenya’s drought, Ugandan inflation
• Nigeria CPI (Nov.)
• Ghana: Fiscal risks to return
• Angola: Another year of recession, mounting debt
• Côte d’Ivoire: Election clouds robust growth outlook
• Kenya: Economy weathers drought
• South Africa: Recovery loses momentum
• South Africa: Recovery already waning
• Uganda: large CA deficit points to slowdown ahead
• Saudi slowdown deepened in Q2
• Tanzania: Growth set to slow
• Whole Economy PMIs (Jul.)
• Whole Economy PMIs (Jun.)
• Saudi Arabia’s slowdown extends into Q2