Unchanged interest rates to support economy
Jo-Maré Duddy – The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) decided to keep its repo unchanged and believes it remains appropriate to continue supporting domestic economic activity.
BoN governor Johannes !Gawaxab this morning said the repo will remain at 3.75%, which means that the prime lending rate of commercial banks in the country will stay at 7.5%.
“Domestic economic activity slowed considerably in 2020 compared to 2019. Contractions were observed in key sectors such as tourism, wholesale and retail trade, mining, manufacturing, construction, as well as transport and storage. The contraction was mainly due to the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” !Gawaxab said.
The domestic economy is estimated to have contracted by 7.3% in 2020, before returning to an expected moderate recovery of 2.6% in 2021, he added.
The next meeting of the MPC will be held on 13 April.
BoN governor Johannes !Gawaxab this morning said the repo will remain at 3.75%, which means that the prime lending rate of commercial banks in the country will stay at 7.5%.
“Domestic economic activity slowed considerably in 2020 compared to 2019. Contractions were observed in key sectors such as tourism, wholesale and retail trade, mining, manufacturing, construction, as well as transport and storage. The contraction was mainly due to the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” !Gawaxab said.
The domestic economy is estimated to have contracted by 7.3% in 2020, before returning to an expected moderate recovery of 2.6% in 2021, he added.
The next meeting of the MPC will be held on 13 April.
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