According to the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics of the Central Bank of West African States (Bceao)
for the month of November 2019, crude oil prices on international markets (average WTI,
BRENT, DUBAI), expressed in US dollars, recorded a year-on-year decline of 3.1% in November
2019.
Over the same period, the prices of the main raw materials exported by the WAEMU countries, namely
cocoa (+22.8%) and gold (+19.6%) were on the rise.
On the other hand, cashew nuts (-33.7%), cotton (-18.8%), coffee (-14.7%) and rubber (-4.2%)
were down. As regards the main food products imported by the countries of the Union, their
prices rose year-on-year, by 1.4% in November 2019.
In terms of monetary policy, the main central banks kept their key interest rates unchanged at during the period under review. International stock market indices were up, in their
together, at the end of November 2019, year-on-year.
The most significant increases were observed in the Nasdaq Composite (+18.2%), the CAC 40
(+18.0%), DAX (+17.6%), Eurostoxx 50 (+16.7%), Standard & Poor's 500 (+13.8%) and Dow Jones
(+9.8%).
On the foreign exchange market, the European currency depreciated at an annual rate against the Japanese yen
(-6.6%), the pound sterling (-4.3%), the US dollar (-3.3%) and the Chinese yuan (-2.2%).