From SAPA
Namibia will see a 5.7 percent economic growth this year, low inflation and higher mining output coupled with foreign investment, a local investment group said Friday.
“For this year, we expect to see economic expansion of 5.7 percent driven by an ongoing construction boom in Namibia, which is likely to continue for a number of years, as well as major foreign direct investment inflows into the mining industry,” IJG Securities Namibia stated in its economic preview.
“As the construction boom slows, a major boom in mining output is to be expected, as the new mines, currently under construction, start and ramp up to full production levels,” IJG Namibia said in the publication “Namibia Quarterly” on Friday.
Inflation is set to “fall dramatically” through 2015 on account of cost-push factors deriving from tumbling oil prices, the publication noted.
Through the first half of the year, inflation is expected to slow to 4.1 percent from the current 4.6 percent.
According to IJG Namibia, the country’s inflation will hover around 4.7 percent in 2015, well below the 5.4 percent level seen in 2014.
“Sustained low interest rates in South Africa are likely to keep rate increases on hold in Namibia through 2015, and the most likely scenario for the country sees interest rates flat until mid-2016,” economic analyst Rowland Brown stated.
Namibia’s second gold mine, B2Gold, started production last month and the new Tschudi copper mine will start operations next month, while the Chinese-owned Husab uranium mine in Namibia will commence with an initial production phase later year. – SAPA
