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Exceptionally weak economic performance reflected during second quarter – central bank

Exceptionally weak economic performance reflected during second quarter – central bank

The pandemic has seen the slow growth in tourism, transport, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, construction, and mining sectors during the second quarter of 2020, a new report by the Bank of Namibia indicates.

The central bank noted in the latest quarterly bulletin that very weak activity was reflected in the collapse in passenger arrivals in the tourism sector and lower cargo volumes in the transport sector, while lower output was registered in the manufacturing sector, and real turnover in the wholesale and retail trade sector also declined.

Moreover, the construction sector activity also slowed due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, in the agriculture sector, livestock marketing activity declined as a result of farmers restocking during the period under review.

Signs of improvement were, however, observed in the communication sector during the period under review, the central bank said.

Furthermore, Namibia’s inflation rate decelerated further during the second quarter of 2020, due to a lower inflation for housing, transport, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

Meanwhile, the BoN said that the global economy is expected to record a deeper recession in 2020 than previously projected, but then to recover in 2021. The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook for June 2020 projects global real output to contract by 4.9% in 2020, its worst recession since the Great Depression, and more severe than during the 2008/2009 global financial crises.


 

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