BoN Quarterly Bulletin reports robust growth for first quarter
Higher output of diamonds, uranium, gold and zinc concentrate helped to offset the slower growth in agriculture, forestry and fishing, for the first quarter of this year, leading to robust quarterly growth of 5% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
The Bank of Namibia Quarterly Bulletin – June 2023, released this week and covering the period January, February and March this year, indicated that overall growth came mostly from growth in the extractive industries.
Although both the secondary and the tertiary sectors recorded growth overall, declines or slower growth in individual sectoral contributors lead to slower growth compared to last year’s first quarter.
For instance, while the electricity and the water sectors reported robust growth, not as a result of higher productivity but only bcause of price increases, a contraction in the output of the manufacturing sector caused overall slower growth. Here it must be noted that a slight recovery in construction was recorded.
Futhermore, while quarterly contractions were recorded for financial services, public administration (government), and defence, strong growth in wholesale and retail, tourism, and transport helped the tertiary sector to post moderate gains.
In other economic indicators, the all-important Private Sector Credit Extension (PSCE) rose moderately during the quarter, with growth in Broad Money Supply (M2) showing modest improvement.
PSCE growth was supported mostly by growth in credit extended to private households while the growth in money supply was underpinned by a significant increase in net foreign assets following the disbursement of the loan from the African Development Bank.
The Bank of Namibia Quarterly Bulletin – June 2023 is available at this link.
