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Namibia's trade deficit narrows in Q2 2016

Xinhua, August 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Namibia's trade deficit came in lower during the second quarter of 2016, pegged at 7.3 billion Namibian dollars (545 million U.S. dollars), according the Statistics Agency, NSA.

The agency on Thursday said that the statistics represented a decline of 36.8 percent in comparison to the corresponding quarter of 2015, which recorded 11.1 billion Namibian dollars.

Statistician General, NSA, Alex Shimuafeni, said the decline in the deficit was attributed more to the growth in exports revenue during the reported period.

"During the period under review, merchandise exports from Namibia rose by 4 percent to account for 16.5 billion Namibian dollars, up from 15.9 billion Namibian registered in the same period a year earlier," he added.

Shimuafeni attributed the growth in exports to the high export values of diamonds, fish, copper ores, and live animals.

In terms of Namibia's expenditure on imports, figures declined to 23.8 billion Namibian dollars during the second quarter of 2016, down from 27.5 billion Namibian dollars registered during the same period a year ago, representing a decline of 13.5 percent.

"The decrease in imports was largely led by weakening domestic demand for fuels, steel, plastics, copper ores, beverages and vehicles," Shimuafeni noted.

Meanwhile, during the presentation, the agency highlighted the key export markets during this quarter, with South Africa topping the list.

Furthermore, NSA revealed that during the period under review, the major sources of Namibia imports were again topped by South Africa followed by Botswana, Italy, Zambia and the High Sea, which according to Shimuafeni, supplied Namibia with 78 percent of its total imports. Endit