The Bank of Namibia (BoN) is expected to raise its repo rate next month after the South African Reserve Bank on Thursday raised its repo rate by 25 basis points to 4%, 25bps above that of Namibia.
According to IJG, the development signals a strong indication that Namibia’s central bank will raise interest rates next month (16 February), when it delivers its first Monetary Policy Announcement of the year.
Economic analysts who spoke to The Brief had earlier predicted that Namibia is likely to see at least two interest rate hikes in 2022.
This is despite the fact that the central banl last December resolved to keep the repo rate unchanged at 3.75%.
Cirrus Capital’s Head of Research Robert McGregor said there are high chances the central bank will increase the repo rate at least twice this year.
Simonis Storm Economist Theo Klein forecasts BoN to hike its repo rate by between 50 and 75 basis points in 2022, taking the prime rate to between 8.00% and 8.25%.
PSG Namibia’s Shelly Louw expects at least three interest rate hikes of 25 basis points each in 2022, with two of those hikes being in the 1st quarter of 2022.
