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City of Windhoek approves 144 building plans in June

City of Windhoek approves 144 building plans in June

The City of Windhoek approved a total of 144 building plans in June, 15 units less than in May. The plans in June accumulated N$60.5 million as opposed to N$81.3 million in May.

About 5 new commercial units valued at N$15.2 million were approved in June, bringing the year-to-date number of commercial and industrial approvals to 20, worth a total of N$184.9 million, while new residential units accounted for 22 of the approvals registered in June (N$17.2 million) and 117 additions to properties were approved with a value of N$28.1 million.

IJG Research analysts expect the Bank of Namibia to follow the South African Reserve Bank’s decision and cut their interest rates by 25 bps at next month’s monetary policy committee meeting.

“Consumers and businesses are thus likely to be provided with some slight relief. With the rate cut it will become more attractive for businesses to acquire the debt finance needed to expand and invest in capital projects, but only marginally,” IJG noted.

The firm stressed that interest rates are unlikely to be the major barrier to capital projects going forward as the construction industry, along with lenders, have been challenged by sluggish growth in the economy and poor business confidence rather than tight monetary policy.

“We do not expect the decrease in interest rates to bring about a significant improvement in the approvals and completions data in the short term as business confidence is still lacking,” IJG added.


 

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys