Share

Namibia keeps repo rate unchanged

Windhoek - Namibia's Reserve Bank kept its repo rate unchanged at 6%, the Bank of Namibia (BoN) announced on Friday.

"The monetary policy committee has decided to leave the repo rate at 6% to support domestic economic activities," BoN governor Ipumbu Shiimi told reporters.

"The bank remains concerned that growth in household credit remains high and continues to largely finance unproductive imported luxury goods. This puts pressure on international reserves."

Several loans

Shiimi said Namibia's international reserves were covering eight weeks, while 10 to 12 weeks would be desirable.

Apart from international reserves in South African rand, US dollars and Euros, the BoN recently started to build international reserves in Chinese Yuan (Renminbi).

"Namibia trades with China and has received several loans from China. We saw it fit to add Yuan to our international reserves, which make up roughly 10% of foreign reserves," Shiimi added.

He did not disclose amounts held in foreign reserves to date, but according to the bank's annual report for the period ending December 2013, foreign reserves totalled ND15.7bn (that month.

The bank has raised its repo rate twice this year by 0.25 basis points each.


The BoN governor on Friday said that Namibia's economic growth for this year would come to 5.3%, largely driven by construction, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and diamond mining.

Inflation rate

"Data available for the first ten months until October show a 9% increase in onshore and offshore diamond production with 1.6 million carats produced by the end of October," Shiimi said.

Namibia's zinc and uranium industries "performed poorly" this year, he said.

Namibia's inflation rate which has been hovering around 6% for the past few months slowed down to 5% at the end of October.

The BoN expects a GDP growth of 5.6% for Namibia in 2015.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.93
+0.0%
Rand - Pound
23.89
+0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.0%
Platinum
908.05
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.94
+1.3%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.8%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.8%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders