Maria David
THE Bank of Namibia’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to maintain the repo rate at 7.75%.
This decision was announced by the Bank of Namibia Governor, Johannes !Gawaxab, on Wednesday at the Bank’s Oshakati branch in the Oshana Region.
!Gawaxab said that the decision was made after conducting a comprehensive review of global, regional, and domestic economic developments.
“We want to continue safeguarding the peg between the Namibia dollar and the South African Rand and supporting the domestic economy,” he explained.
However, !Gawaxab said that domestic economic activity is projected to slow down to about 3.3% for 2023 as a whole, compared to the 4.6% growth registered in 2022.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, annual inflation declined to 4.5% in July 2023 from 5.3% in June 2023.
!Gawaxab indicated that annual growth in Private Sector Credit Extension (PSCE) improved to 3.0% in June 2023 from 2.6% in April 2023, albeit remaining lower by historical standards.
He explained that the increase in PSCE growth was attributed to a rise in demand for credit from the household sector.
The repo rate will remain unchanged until the next meeting of the MPC on October 23 and 24, 2023.
Leave a Reply