Bank of Namibia Holds Benchmark Rate at 6.00%

The Bank of Namibia maintained its benchmark interest rate, the repurchase rate, unchanged at 6.00%.  Bank of Namibia Governor Ipumbu Shiimi said: "despite the eased inflationary pressure there is a need to ensure sustained growth in the domestic economy.  Raising the rate at this point could choke off growth," and added that the Bank "still sees good growth prospects domestically, but this cannot happen in isolation from developments in the world economy,".

The Namibian central bank also held its interest rate unchanged at its April meeting, after dropping the rate 75 basis points in December last year.  Namibia reported annual inflation of 4.8% in July, compared to 5.4% in June, 5.2% in May, and 4.8% in April.  Namibia's currency is fixed against neighboring South Africa's rand (ZAR), thus the Namibian central bank tends to follow the monetary policy decisions of the South African Reserve Bank.

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