The Bank of Namibia director of strategic communication, Emma Haiyambo has said that the Namibian economy is set to record the worse dip in recent history due to the ravaging effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Haiyambo who disclosed this while releasing the latest economic projection for December on Monday said the domestic economy is expected to contract by 7.3 percent in 2020 and to recover by 2.6 percent and 3.2 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
She said, “The steep contraction in 2020 is driven by sharp declines in hotels and restaurants; mining; transport and storage; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade and construction”.
According to Haiyambo, the improved growth projected in 2021 is expected in the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries particularly uranium mining, beverages, wholesale and retail trade.
The central bank said the latest overall growth estimate of -7.3 percent for 2020 represents a slight improvement from -7.8 percent published in the August 2020 economic outlook.
She added, “Year-to-date information about economic activity for 2020 so far suggests that estimated contractions in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and in mining and quarrying are likely to be less severe than initially anticipated.
“Risks to domestic growth are currently dominated by uncertainty regarding the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.”