Repo rate to remain unchanged at 7.75% – Central Bank
The repo rate will remain unchanged at 7.75%, while the prime lending rate remains the same at 11.50%, the Bank of Namibia Governor, Johannes !Gawaxab said during a Monetary Policy Committee announcement.
!Gawaxab said this policy stance will continue to safeguard the one-to-one link between the Namibia Dollar and the South African Rand while supporting domestic economic activity,” he added.
During the announcement!Gawaxab also highlighted that the central bank has lowered its inflation projection for 2023 to an average of 5.6%, down 0.4 % from its previous forecast, due to unexpected deflation in the transport category.
According to Gawaxab Namibia’s average inflation rate rose to 6.2% during the first seven months of 2023 relative to 5.3 % during the corresponding period in 2022.
“The rise in the average consumer prices continued to be predominantly driven by food and housing price inflation. Nevertheless, on a monthly basis, annual inflation declined to 4.5% in July 2023 from 5.3% in June 2023,” he added.
Meanwhile !Gawaxab said going forward, the real gross domestic product growth is projected to slow down to about 3.3% for 2023 as a whole compared to 4.6% registered in 2022, on account of slower growth in the primary industry.
