Repo rate unchanged at 6.5% as economy’s growth remains slow in first 10 months
The Bank of Namibia has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% in order to continue supporting domestic economic activity and to maintain the one-to-one link between the Namibia Dollar and the South African Rand.
Governor Iipumbu Shiimi said the domestic economic activity continued to slow during the first ten months of 2019, compared to the corresponding period of 2018.
According to Shiimi, the slowdown was mainly reflected in sectors such as mining, manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade and agriculture.
“Going forward, the domestic economy is projected to remain weak in 2019,” Shiimi added.
The inflation rate declined further to an average of 4% during the first ten months of 2019, mainly due to a decline in housing and transport inflation. Overall inflation is projected to average 3.8% in 2019.
Furthermore, annual average growth in credit extended to the private sector increased marginally to 6.8% during the first ten months of 2019, compared to 6.2% in the corresponding period of 2018, mainly attributed to a higher uptake of credit by businesses in the retail, real estate, financial and other services sectors.
