Government debt stands at N$106.1 billion at half-year mark – Finance Minister
The total government debt was N$106,1 billion at the half-year mark of 2020/21, Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi said while tabling the mid-term budget review in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Shiimi said the preliminary revenue for the six months for which the review is given stood at N$26 billion, while the half-year total expenditure execution, including expenditure commitments stood at N$35,8 billion, which is 51% revenue collected and 49% worth of expenditure covered.
He projected the budget deficit will reduce only to about 7.3% of GDP in 2021/22 and average around 5.9% of GDP over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
The minister acknowledged with this baseline policy scenario, the budget deficit is still relatively high and public debt as a percentage of GDP is projected to increase to 73.2% in 2021/22 and about 76.9% by 2023/24.
“To stabilize growth in public debt, timely reforms to bring about faster revenue-generating economic growth, expenditure-based reforms, revenue mobilization and non-debt creating alternative forms of financing are an indispensable policy intervention over the short and the medium term,” Shiimi said.
Shiimi said reshuffles had freed up a total amount of N$841,6 million. This consists of N$701,6 million from the operational budget and N$140 million from the development budget.
This amount will again be re-split between the development operational budgets and will see the operational budget losing N$140 million, to end up with the development budget.
The remaining N$601,1 million will be reshuffled within operations and be split between several ministries and state owned entities, which include the Health and Social Services Ministry, Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare., Electoral Commission of Namibia, Namibia Wildlife Resorts, TransNamib, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Home Affairs, Ministry of Defense and the Trade Ministry.
