The Bank of Namibia is busy revising its economic growth forecast for 2022 upwards, BoN governor Johannes !Gawaxab said today.

In August, the central bank forecast a growth rate of 3.2%.

Speaking at the BoN’s monetary policy announcement, !Gawaxab said the upward revision is due to “more positive information that is accumulating”.

“The latest estimates for growth in 2022 contrasts favourably against the growth rate of 2.7% recorded in 2021,” he said.

According to !Gawaxab, risks to the domestic economy include the weakening of global economic activity, high inflation arising from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and global supply chain disruptions. Additional risks include climatic swings, animal disease outbreaks within the region, other infectious diseases and the fallout from strict Covid-19 policies in some jurisdictions.

The BoN expects overall inflation to average 6.1% this year, before slowing to 4.9% in 2023.