The government has reallocated N$3.6 billion to address urgent needs such as drought relief, social welfare and healthcare, Finance Minister Ipumbu Shiimi announced on Wednesday during the Mid-Year Budget Review.
The adjustment is part of a broader fiscal plan aimed at maintaining economic stability while addressing pressing national concerns.
Shiimi tabled the revised allocations, highlighting priorities across sectors as Namibia navigates critical challenges in the 2024/25 fiscal year.
He said despite the reallocations affecting the railway sector, the government assured that sufficient funding will be provided to continue upgrading and expanding Namibia’s railway network, working closely with the Ministry of Works and Transport and TransNamib.
“In being consistent with the spirit of the Mid-Year Budget Review process, these additional expenditure allocations met the criteria of unforeseeable and unavoidable emergency items which cannot be deferred until the tabling of the main budget in February 2025,” he said.
He further explained that key allocations include an additional N$698.8 million dedicated to drought relief through the Office of the Prime Minister.
The funds will support food distribution to 308,750 households affected by severe drought conditions until June 2025, raising the drought relief budget for the fiscal year to over N$1.4 billion.
“This is a significant resource envelope, which highlights the importance of instituting climate resilience policies and measures to minimise the impact of weather events on livelihoods, going forward,” he said.
In response to the increasing demand for social assistance, the government has also allocated an additional N$139 million to extend the monthly Conditional Basic Income Grant (CBIG) of N$600 to more urban beneficiaries.
Furthermore, N$117.8 million has been added to the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare to ensure continued coverage of Old Age Social Grants for elderly Namibians.
Moreover, the healthcare sector also received an additional N$450 million for the Ministry of Health and Social Services to address various emergencies.
Other critical reallocations include N$233 million to support summer cropping within Green Schemes and N$200 million for the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) to cover election-related costs.
Additional funds have been designated to support key ministries with N$187.8 million for hostel catering and utilities in the Ministry of Education, and N$140 million for the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs.
The finance Minister allocated N$86.8 million to the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation to offset foreign exchange fluctuations.
Shiimi said the mid-year review process considered additional spending requests of N$8.3 billion, with fiscal sustainability in mind, and decided to approve only N$3.6 billion in supplementary allocations to keep debt under control.
As a result, the operational budget increased by N$2.6 billion to a total of N$78.2 billion, while the development budget decreased to N$10.4 billion, maintaining debt servicing at N$12.9 billion.
Despite these changes, the government maintained initial spending limits for most votes, citing the low implementation rates in the first half of the year.
Ministries were encouraged to reallocate funds within their current budgets to meet other operational needs.
The adjustments reduce the nominal budget deficit by N$277.3 million, setting it at N$8.7 billion, or 3.2% of GDP.
