WINDHOEK: The Bank of Namibia (BoN) announced a 25 basis point reduction in the repo rate, from 7.75 per cent to 7.50 per cent, on Wednesday.

Making the announcement here Wednesday, BoN Governor Johannes !Gawaxab said the monetary policy stance will be implemented over the next two months.

According to !Gawaxab, the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) followed a comprehensive review of domestic, regional, and global economic developments.

‘The domestic economic recovery continued during the first six months of 2024, although growth is forecast to decelerate for 2024 as a whole. Inflation continued to moderate, while the growth in Private Sector Credit Extension (PSCE) remains subdued. The merchandise trade deficit widened further while the stock of international reserves remained sufficient to support the currency peg and meet the country’s international financial obligations,’ !Gawaxab emphasised.

He also noted that domestic economic activity rose during the first half of 2024 relative to the
same period in 2023. The growth, !Gawaxab said, emanates from the mining, electricity generation, wholesale and retail trade, tourism, communication, and transport sectors as well as the livestock marketing sub-sector.

‘Looking ahead, growth in Namibia’s real gross domestic product is projected to decelerate to 3.1 per cent in 2024 from 4.2 per cent in 2023. This revised projected growth is 0.6 percentage points lower than the forecast at the previous MPC meeting,’ the governor added.

Source :The Namibia News Agency