Central bank maintains repo rate at 6.75%
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Namibia held its bi-monthly meeting and decided to maintain the Repo rate unchanged at 6.75% following a review of global, regional and domestic economic and financial developments.
Governor of the Bank, Iipumbu Shiimi this week said the domestic economic activity remained slow during the first four months of 2018, despite improvements in some key sectors.
Shiimi said that this slow activity was largely reflected in the wholesale and retail trade and fishing sectors. The mining, agriculture, as well as transport and communication sectors, however, performed positively.
“Despite the slow economic activity for the first four months, the domestic economy is expected to perform slightly better in 2018 compared to 2017,” Shiimi added.
According to Shiimi, as of 31 May, Shiimi said the official stock of international reserves stood at N$28.1 billion, representing a decline of N$2.6 billion on a monthly basis.
“At this level, the stock of international reserves is projected to cover 4.7 months of imports of goods and services. Although reserves remain sufficient to sustain the currency peg between the Namibia Dollar and the South African Rand, it is relatively low compared to Namibia’s peers in the region,” Shiimi explained.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the inflation rate rose slightly to 3.6% during April 2018, from 3.5% in the previous month and according to the governor inflation is expected to average around 4% this year.
