Namibia central bank holds main rate as inflation ticks higher
Adds governor comments, more context, inflation forecast from paragraph 4 onwards
By Nyasha Nyaungwa
WINDHOEK, June 19 (Reuters) -Namibia's central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, responding to a slight uptick in inflation and protecting the local currency's peg to the South African rand.
The repo rate has been at 7.75% NACBIR=ECI since June 2023. Consumer inflationedged up to 4.9% in annual terms in May NACPIY=ECI from 4.8% in April and 4.5% in March.
"The MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) was wary of the recent deterioration in inflation, which could jeopardise the progress that has been made over the past year in containing inflation and safeguarding price stability," Bank of Namibia Governor Johannes !Gawaxab said in a statement.
He said risks to the domestic economic outlook persisted due to factors including drought and falling diamond prices on the international market.
Namibia is a major diamond producer and has significant deposits of lithium and rare earth minerals used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The central bank sees inflation averaging 4.9% this year, unchanged from its last MPC meeting in April.
Writing by Tannur Anders and Bhargav Acharya
Editing by Alexander Winning and Peter Graff
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
