• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy & Policy
Friday, July 11, 2025
SUBSCRIBE
The Brief | Namibia's Leading Business & Financial News
26 °c
Windhoek
22 ° Wed
25 ° Thu
  • Home
  • Companies
    • Finance
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Property
    • Trade
    • Tourism
  • Business & Economy
  • Mining & Energy
  • Opinions
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
  • Africa
  • e-edition
No Result
View All Result
The Brief | Namibia's Leading Business & Financial News
  • Home
  • Companies
    • Finance
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Property
    • Trade
    • Tourism
  • Business & Economy
  • Mining & Energy
  • Opinions
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
  • Africa
  • e-edition
No Result
View All Result
The Brief | Namibia's Leading Business & Financial News
Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
TB image banner 750x140
Home Companies Finance

Namibia’s credit growth hits lowest level since 2004

by editor
September 1, 2023
in Finance
47
A A
57
SHARES
951
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

You might also like

NamRA collects N$12.78 billion in first two months of financial year

BoN orders banks to cut gap between repo and lending rates

DBN secures Green Climate Fund accreditation

Namibia’s annual credit growth averaged 2.7% in July this year, the slowest since 2004, official figures show.

According to Simonis Storm’s latest report, credit extended to the private sector during the month stood at N$119.2 billion, with 55% held by households, 38% by businesses, and 6% by foreigners.

According to the private sector credit extension report, businesses experienced a decrease of 1.2% year-on-year (y/y) in their debt for the fourth consecutive month.

This comes as households saw an increase of 5.5% y/y, and foreigners recorded a 2.1% y/y rise in their borrowing activities in the same period.

The Bank of Namibia noted a slowdown in credit demand from businesses across various sectors, including mining, wholesale and retail trade, financial, and services.

“The latest statistics follow a meagre 0.035% month-on-month (m/m) increase in private sector credit extension in July 2023, a stark 0.092 percentage points lower than the year-to-date (YTD) monthly growth average of 0.128%. This translates to an annual growth rate of 2.6% year-on-year (y/y) in July 2023,” the report noted.

Delving into a longer-term perspective, Simonis Storm said private sector credit extension has experienced an annualised decline of -9.8% over the last two decades, a clear illustration of the subdued growth in credit.

“While some of this may be attributed to a low base effect in July 2003, it may also indicate a waning appetite for credit within the country. A closer look at the average YTD growth rate reveals a consistent trend,” noted the research.

In YTD terms, Simonis Storm reveals that businesses were net repayers of their loans, reducing their credit intake by an average of 0.6%.

Meanwhile, households (up by 5.2%) and foreigners (up by 32.21%) continued their trend of being net borrowers.

“The situation for businesses is particularly stark, as they remain net repayers of their mortgage loans for the 11th consecutive month in July 2023, with a recent negative growth rate of -5.1% y/y recorded in July,” reveals the firm.

Similarly, other loans and advances by businesses have consistently posted negative growth rates since May 2023, with a decline of 6.6% y/y in July 2023.

“These two credit categories carry significant weight, constituting 66% of the total credit uptake by businesses. However, within this challenging context, corporate overdraft credit (up by 6.8% y/y) and instalment and leasing credit (up by 16.6% y/y) have shown steady growth since September 2021.”

In contrast, household credit uptake has been driven by various factors, including mortgage loans (up by 2.9% y/y), other loans and advances (up by 15.9% y/y), overdraft credit (up by 6.1% y/y, following three consecutive months of contractions), and instalment and leasing credit (up by 6.1% y/y).

Real private sector credit extension growth has consistently remained in negative territory since December 2020, with the nominal value of credit extended to the private sector growing at a slower pace than inflation.

In July 2023, real private credit extended to businesses decreased by 5.7% y/y, which is higher compared to its lowest growth point of -9.7% y/y in May 2023.

Conversely, real household credit growth rebounded into positive territory after 21 months of consistent negative real credit growth.

Simonis Storm said this suggests the sensitivity of both businesses and households to monetary policy changes.

“In July 2023, Namibia’s foreign currency reserves reached a record high of N$54.1 billion, up from N$52.9 billion. This increase justifies the recent decision by the Bank of Namibia to keep the repo rate and prime rate unchanged at 7.75% and 11.5% in August 2023, respectively,” the report added.

author avatar
editor
See Full Bio
Tags: finance
Share23Tweet14Share4
Previous Post

Electric vehicles in a Namibian context

Next Post

Rossing Uranium, Debmarine, B2Gold shine at Chamber of Mines awards

Recommended For You

NamRA collects N$12.78 billion in first two months of financial year

by reporter
July 9, 2025
0
NamRA sees drop in illegal vehicle imports following moratorium

The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) has collected N$12.78 billion in revenue between 1 April and 31 May 2025, as part of the current financial year. Of this total,...

Read moreDetails

BoN orders banks to cut gap between repo and lending rates

by reporter
July 2, 2025
0
BoN orders banks to cut gap between repo and lending rates

The Bank of Namibia (BoN) has directed all commercial banks to narrow the gap between the repo rate and lending rates by 25 basis points in two stages...

Read moreDetails

DBN secures Green Climate Fund accreditation

by reporter
July 2, 2025
0
DBN secures Green Climate Fund accreditation

The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has been officially accredited by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a move expected to improve Namibia’s ability to access international climate finance....

Read moreDetails

Bank of Namibia meets incoming Bank Windhoek MD

by reporter
July 2, 2025
0
Bank of Namibia meets incoming Bank Windhoek MD

The Bank of Namibia has officially met with James Chapman, who will take over as Managing Director of Bank Windhoek in July 2025. Chapman was introduced to BoN...

Read moreDetails

Standard Bank invests N$35 million in CSI initiatives over five years

by reporter
June 30, 2025
0
Standard Bank invests N$35 million in CSI initiatives over five years

Standard Bank Namibia says it has invested more than N$35 million in Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives over the past five years. The bank’s wide-ranging support spans health,...

Read moreDetails
Next Post
Rossing Uranium, Debmarine, B2Gold shine at Chamber of Mines awards

Rossing Uranium, Debmarine, B2Gold shine at Chamber of Mines awards

Related News

“Namibia must avoid contracting the ‘Dutch Disease’!

“Namibia must avoid contracting the ‘Dutch Disease’!

April 30, 2024
Public service leave payouts costing government millions

Public service leave payouts costing government millions

May 16, 2025
NamRA plans to collect over N$68bn owed

NamRA plans to collect over N$68bn owed

January 13, 2023

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Agriculture
  • Analysis
  • Business & Economy
  • Columnists
  • Companies
  • Finance
  • Finance
  • Fisheries
  • Green Hydrogen
  • Health
  • Investing
  • Latest
  • Market
  • Mining & Energy
  • Namibia
  • namibia
  • News
  • Opinions
  • Property
  • Retail
  • Technology
  • Tourism
  • Trade
The Brief | Namibia's Leading Business & Financial News

The Brief is Namibia's leading daily business, finance and economic news publication.

CATEGORIES

  • Business & Economy
  • Companies
    • Agriculture
    • Finance
    • Fisheries
    • Health
    • Property
    • Retail
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Trade
  • Finance
  • Green Hydrogen
  • Investing
  • Latest
  • Market
  • Mining & Energy
  • namibia
  • News
    • Africa
    • Namibia
  • Opinions
    • Analysis
    • Columnists

CONTACT US

Cell: +264814612969

Email: newsdesk@thebrief.com.na

© 2025 The Brief | All Rights Reserved. Namibian Business News, Current Affairs, Analysis and Commentary

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Companies
  • Mining & Energy
  • Business & Economy
  • Opinions
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
  • Africa

© 2025 The Brief | All Rights Reserved. Namibian Business News, Current Affairs, Analysis and Commentary

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.