Namibia central bank holds rates, as economy accelerates
Namibia’s central
bank left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, saying the economic
recovery would continue to gain momentum while rising domestic demand
and commodity prices posed upside risks for inflation.
The Bank of Namibia
kept the repo rate steady at 7 percent, having trimmed it by 350 basis
points between December 2008 and June last year, to boost flagging
growth after the global downturn hit demand for exports from its key
mining sector.
The bank’s
executive “is of the view that in line with the improved global
economic outlook, the Namibian economy would continue to gain
momentum,” Governor Ipumbu Shiimi said in a statement.
A Reuters poll of economists last month saw growth in the world’s
largest uranium producer at 3.5 percent this year, quickening to 4.0
percent in 2011.
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