Private sector credit declines

Sighting the latest Bank of Namibia’s money and banking statistics, Simonis Storm Securities says total private sector credit extension declined slightly during September to 11.2% year-on-year . However, on a monthly basis, total credit extended grew 0.4%.
The decline came from the corporate sector as well as individuals, which both grew at a slower pace than in August. Credit extended to businesses declined to 13.5% from 14.3% in August, while individual credit growth declined to 9.9% growth from 10.4% in August.
Business overdrafts contracted for the second time in three months and were 3.6% lower than in September 2010, while individual overdrafts slowed to 3.6% growth from 7.3% in August. Strong growth in mortgage loans however partially offset the slower overdraft growth as mortgage loans to individuals increased to 10.9% and mortgage loans to businesses increased to 31.6%.
The Bank of Namibia’s foreign reserves declined further in September by 8% annually and 4.6% on a monthly basis. The government’s cash at the central bank decreased by a further N$703 million to N$3.6 billion. Domestic government debt continued to accelerate during October, increasing 62.5% year-on-year to N$15.1billion. Of all government debt, 49.1% of debt has a maturity of less than 12 months.