SACU receipts, AfDB loan boost foreign reverses in 2018
The level of international reserves held by the Bank of Namibia rose by 2.8% over the year to 2. 2 N$31 billion at the end of Dec. 2018, according to a report released this week Tuesday by the bank.
The rise in reserves was partly due to inflows of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts and the second tranche of the African Development Bank loan to the government, the Bank of Namibia said in their annual report.
“The reserves were estimated to cover 4.5 months of the country’s imports of goods and services, which was slightly higher than the 4.4 months recorded at the end of 2017,” the bank’s Deputy Governor, Ebson Uanguta said.
Meanwhile, according to the central bank, Namibia’s current account deficit narrowed further to 2.1% of GDP during 2018 from 5.1% of GDP in 2017.
