WINDHOEK, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The extent of the estimated contraction of Namibia's economy for the first quarter of the year has been revised and the direction of change points to improved activities going forward, according to the Minister of Finance, Calle Schlettwein.
The minister in a statement on Wednesday at the 2017 State of the Economy and Mid-Year Budget Review in Windhoek said, in the baseline case he expects the country's economic outlook to follow the regional forward looking trends, while timely implementation and effectiveness of policy interventions can help lift the growth potential.
"But because we are not trading with those regional economies which are growing the fastest, our growth outlook remains positive but subdued," he added.
In terms of the domestic economic developments and outlook, Schlettwein said this year there is reasonable optimism that economic activity and outlook is better than a year ago.
"We anticipate growth to be in the range of 1.8 and 2.3 percent for this year," he said.
According to Schlettwein, the Second Quarter National Accounts as released by the country's statistics agency recently, suggested subdued but moderately improving economic activity across key economic sectors.
"In particular the fast-tracked payment of outstanding invoices emanating from the 2016/17 budgetary commitments and overcommitments has injected much needed liquidity in the market and improved the balance sheets of affected service providers," he added.
Meanwhile, he said that at the global level there is cautious optimism that the economic activity as estimated by the International Monetary Fund will strengthen to 3.5 percent in 2017 and 3.6 percent in 2018, which will have positive spillover effects on the African region through trade and investment channels.
