GDP growth slows in Q2 2023 – Central Bank
The real gross domestic product (GDP growth decelerated, although overall economic activity remained robust year-to-date, a central bank executive said this week.
Speaking at a monetary policy announcement, focusing on economic development, the Bank of Namibia, governor, Johannes !Gawaxab said the recently released quarterly national accounts data reveal a growth rate of 3.7%, a slight dip from the 5.3% in the first quarter of 2023 and a significant drop from 8.5% in the same period of 2022.
“The slowdown in economic growth was mainly due to contractions in sectors such as agriculture and forestry, construction, financial services as well as public administration and defense,” he said.
Additionally, !Gawaxab said that year-to-date, the domestic economy continued to improve, primarily driven by the mining, electricity generation, tourism, and wholesale and retail trade sectors.
Looking ahead, !Gawaxab said growth is projected to decline to 3.3% in 2023 from 7.6% in 2022, on account of slower growth in the primary industry, following the significantly high base effects growth experienced by this industry in the previous year.
Meanwhile, !Gawaxab announced that the central bank decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 7.75% and the decision was taken following a comprehensive review of domestic, regional, and global economic developments, he said.
