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Namibia's debt soars to 36 pct of GDP

Xinhua, October 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

A quarterly bulletin by Namibia's central bank seen by Xinhua Sunday says the government's total debt continued to increase year-on-year as reflected in both the domestic and foreign borrowings mainly in the Eurobond.

According to the bulletin, the government's total debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product increased to 35.8 percent for the April-June 2016 period from 25.7 percent registered at the same period a year ago.

In addition, the bulletin said that the current account registered a deficit of 5.9 billion Namibian dollars (428 million U.S. dollars) during the quarter under review.

"This is primarily due to a higher import bill, compared to export receipts," the bulletin said, adding that capital and financial account recorded a reduced surplus too.

The reduced surplus, the bulletin said, was caused by net outflows registered in portfolio and other short-term investments abroad.

"The International Investment Position recorded a reduced net asset on a yearly basis, as foreign liabilities rose faster than foreign assets," the bulletin points out.

Overall, the bulletin added the Namibian economy displayed a weak performance year-on-year during the second quarter of 2016 because of slowed activities in the mining, manufacturing, construction and transport sectors.

Activities in the mining and manufacturing sectors slowed down because of operational challenges, while in the agricultural sector, the persistent drought caused a deficit of 957 million Namibia dollars in food and live animal exports. Endit