The Bank of Namibia’s 2024 quarterly bulletin released on Friday showed that inflation slowed to 5.0 per cent, from 5.7 per cent registered in the previous quarter, mainly due to lower inflation rates for food and alcoholic beverages.

It indicated that annually, overall inflation eased by 2.1 percentage points, dropping from 7.1 per cent registered in the corresponding quarter of 2023, due to a decline in food and transport inflation.

In May 2024, the annual inflation rate stood at 4.9 per cent, an increase from 4.8 per cent registered in April 2024. Overall inflation is projected to slow to 4.9 per cent in 2024 and 4.5 per cent in 2025, compared to an average of 5.9 per cent in 2023, it said.

The domestic economy continued to grow, but at a slower pace during the first quarter of 2024, primarily due to weak performance in the primary and secondary industries.

The report further said the economy registered a growth rate of 4.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2024, down from the 5.3 per cent growth re
corded in the corresponding quarter of 2023. In the primary industry, the mining sector registered slower growth during the quarter under review, primarily due to weaker diamond production and a decline in uranium output, despite robust growth in oil and gas exploration activities.

‘The agricultural sector was sustained by the drought-induced marketing of cattle and small stock, despite the adverse climate impact on crop production. Furthermore, activity in the secondary industry slowed and was dragged down by a decline in the manufacturing sector, mainly driven by a contraction in diamond processing,’ it read.

It further indicated that on the fiscal front, the Central Government’s debt stock and loan guarantees as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined at the end of March 2024, compared to the same period a year ago. The Government debt stock declined to 66.0 per cent of GDP at the end of March 2024 from 67.2 per cent during the corresponding period in the previous year, owing to faster grow
th in nominal GDP compared to the rise in debt over the period under review.

‘In nominal terms, central Government debt rose by 8.0 per cent to N.dollars 153.8 billion at the end of March 2024 on the back of a rise in the issuance of both Treasury Bills (TBs) and Internal Registered Stock (IRS) as well as a rise in external debt,’ it indicated.

An increase in external public debt was caused by exchange rate depreciation, the disbursement of funding from the KFW Development Bank, and a loan from the African Development Bank.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency