The Presidency has emphasised efforts made and successes recorded by government to reduce debt and increase revenue for national development. These comments were made by Presidential press secretary Alfredo Hengari, in response to a recent country visit by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF deployed a team led by Jaroslaw Wieczorek, IMF mission chief for Namibia, who visited Namibia to conduct a country visit during September 2023. The visit, typically termed an Article IV Mission, looked to carry out an in-depth diagnosis of Namibia’s current macro fiscal situation.
The IMF team concluded that government is charting a prudent course underlined by actions that promise to unlock systemically impactful socio-economic opportunities.
In a statement released on 2 October 2023, the IMF recognised that Namibia’s GDP continues to exhibit positive growth and has now rebounded to beyond the pre-Covid levels.
“Importantly, the IMF highlighted that our fiscal budget deficit ‘has narrowed considerably, from 8.6% in 2021/22 to 5.3% in 2022/23, as measures were taken to contain the public wage bill growth and improve the performance of state-owned enterprises,” Hengari stated.
The country leader, Weorswis, further elaborated that: “Going forward, implementing the authorities’ fiscal consolidation strategy is pivotal to preserve debt sustainability. In this context, the issuance of the public asset ownership policy paper for consultation with stakeholders represents an important milestone.”
Moreover, the IMF noted that while government has conducted itself in a manner that champions prudent fiscal conduct, there has been clear recognition of government’s deliberate actions and plans to curate new green shoots that proved promising inclusive growth ahead.
As such, government welcomed the findings of the IMF and reiterated commitment to continue working with the IMF and all other agencies and development partners to achieve the socio-economic emancipation of all Namibians as articulated in the National Development Plans and the Harambee Prosperity Plans.
The IMF is due to release a more detailed report in either the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2024.