Understanding cycles and slump behaviour
At a recent educational breakfast for the media, FNB Market Research Manager Daniel Kavishe spoke about the average rate of growth in Namibia, money cycle and property market and remarked, that it seemed as if Namibia has been going through seven-year cycles of ups and downs.
Kavishe in his address stressed that the cyclical behavior is typical of most economies and that it is crucial to understand the behavior that ensues.
He added that during tough times, consumers and businesses ‘adopted’ so-called slump behaviors, while certain characteristics became evident in society such as erratic price behaviour, high unemployment, structural changes, industrial action, declining output due to waning demand and trade increase.
Consumers are known to start bargaining during slump times, window shop versus purchasing, go for price and not brand loyalty, often resort to ‘I deserve’ purchases and make use of credit where possible.
“Businesses during slump times focus on cost management, mergers and acquisitions become more regular, clever pricing is done, while structural declines and mechanisation are looked at more closely.”
Meanwhile, the event was also graced by Hon. Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein, who in his address educated invited guests on four topical matters which included: thee budget process, focusing on budget formulation and accountability processes and key components of the national budget, the developmental role of Public Enterprises, structural reforms with a focus on alternative financing, and what MoF intended achieving under the extended Tax Arrear Recovery Incentive Programme.
Caption: Margareth Gustavo, Daniel Kavishe, FNB Market Research Manager, Hon. Minister Schlettwein and Elzita Beukes, Communications Manager, FNB Namibia.
