International Monetary Fund (IMF) Express Concern With Namibia’s Low GDP Growth

 IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde holds News Conference on World Economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects conc...

 IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde holds News Conference on World Economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects concern that Namibia’s GDP will contract in 2018, and pushing out its forecast for growth to next year when it sees support from strong mining production and a rebound in construction activities. Namibia’s economy has a forecast that contracts with 0.2 percent this year, down from a previous forecast of 1 percent growth, due to a weak performance in the manufacturing and construction sectors, the finance ministry has said. The diamond and uranium producer’s economy contracted by 0.9 percent in the last year 2017.

Geremia Palomba, who led the IMF team, said growth would gradually recover. “After years of robust growth, the economy has entered a recession phase...IMF staff anticipates that the economy will recover gradually,” Palomba said in a statement He said growth would strengthen at a long-term rate of about 3 percent, but gave no specific time frame. He added that growth would be below the average recorded in recent years, held back by low productivity growth and stagnant competitiveness.


Namibia’s GDP has averaged 4.29 percent since independence in 1990, Palomba added that the downside risks to the IMF’s outlook included lower-than-expected revenue from the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), slower growth recovery, and fiscal slippage.

Both IMF and World Bank really don't care with human suffering nor either share solidarity towards African countries, what they care is the country to repay back the debt, no matter in which way. The Austerity Measures is a political-economic tool for coercing world governments to reduce budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, privatization state economy in the hands of foreigners (investors) in order to pay the debts. But at the end, it is the government that loses all.

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