EDITORIAL: A limping economy that still chooses people first

Finance minister Ericah Shafudah’s mid-year budget review this week was more than a fiscal update – it was a sobering reflection of Namibia’s fragile economic health, and yet, it offered a flicker of hope amid constraint.On one hand, the picture she painted is unmistakably worrying. Revenues are slowing, with government collecting only 40% of its target by September. Debt has ballooned to a record N$176.3 billion, and interest repayments now swallow 16% of total revenue – money that could have gone to classrooms, hospitals or roads. In simple terms, Namibia is spending more on paying for yesterday than on building tomorrow.This is not sustainable. A growing debt burden coupled with stagnant growth – now revised down to 3.3% for 2025 – leaves little fiscal breathing room. It threatens to trap the country in a cycle where servicing loans competes directly with funding national priorities. Yet amid these grim realities, government’s choice to prioritise people is commendable. Treasury has decided that even while limping financially, it will walk firmly on the path of human investment.The decision to allocate N$814 million to the ministry of education – including N$663 million to cover tuition and registration fees for the first quarter of 2026 under the new subsidised free tertiary education scheme – is an act of political will that deserves recognition. Similarly, the hiring of 1 537 nurses and health professionals and 665 teachers shows that social development is not being sacrificed on the altar of debt.In an era when many governments reach for the red pen to cut social spending, Namibia has reached for the lifeline – choosing to rescue the unemployed and strengthen its human infrastructure instead. That is leadership with a conscience.

EDITORIAL: A limping economy that still chooses people first

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Namibian Sun 2026-04-06

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EDITORIAL: A limping economy that still chooses people first

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Namibian Sun 2026-04-06

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