!Gawaxab engages northern business community
The Governor of the Bank of Namibia, Johannes !Gawaxab met with stakeholders based in the Oshana Region, where he engaged them on the mandate of the Bank, the economic
outlook and developments pertaining to activities of the central bank.
The Governor is on a working visit to Oshakati, the regional capital of Oshana region. The meeting took place on Thursday, 25 March at Oshakati.
During the event attended by regional and local authority leadership, representatives from the business community, commercial banks, as well as civil society organisations, the Governor talked about the promotion of price stability and financial stability, which underpin sound macroeconomic fundamentals, necessary for economic development and advancement.
He also addressed the mushrooming of illegal financial schemes which have the potential to threaten financial stability and can lead to loss of confidence and trust in the financial system, if left unchecked and unregulated.
Between 2012 to 2021, the Bank has issued 25 assessments declaring such schemes as illegal, while handing over 6 cases to the Law Enforcement Agencies between 2018 to 2019 for criminal investigations.
On the freezing of accounts of illegal financial schemes, the Governor informed stakeholders that the various accounts frozen of illegal financial schemes are now subject to ongoing criminal investigations, and therefore such funds cannot be released, until all the processes are concluded.
“The frozen funds in the bank accounts will be used by Police as exhibits in criminal proceedings, and currently the Bank is bound by judicial process and thus, cannot interfere in a matter that is under investigation by the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office,”!Gawaxab said.
!Gawaxab further welcomed government’s economic recovery plan that has commenced with the declaration of 2021 as the year of resilience and the launch of the Harambee Prosperity Plan II by the President, HE Dr. Hage Geingob.
He said that the plan is a game changer as it aims to ensure that Namibia is positioned to respond to domestic socioeconomic challenges and global opportunities, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
