In the local market this week, the NSX Local index was down 1.00% at 505, and the NSX Overall Index was up 0.13% at 1709.9. As at 15 February 2022, Namibia Breweries was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 9.9 billion, followed by FirstRand Namibia Limited with N$ 7.9 billion, Mobile Telecommunications Limited with N$ 6.4 billion and Capricorn Group Limited with N$ 5.8 billion. Capricorn Group Limited lead the market this week, closing at N$ 11.15 per share after growth of 1.4%, with Agra Ltd second, closing at N$ 1.95 after growth of 0.5%. In terms of volume Namibia Breweries lead the market with N$ 0.4 million worth of shares traded, with Trustco Group Holdings Limited in second place with N$ 0.3 million worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 2.25% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 15.10 per USD, and gained 2.34% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 20.43 per GBP. It closed at N$ 20.43 against the Euro, a gain of 2.75%.
The Bank of Namibia held its first Monetary Policy Committee meeting for the year, and announced that the Repo rate will be increasing by 25 basis points to 4.0%. They noted that this was appropriate to safeguard the link between the Namibian Dollar and the South African Rand. According to the Bank, domestic economic activity recovered in 2021, with the economy expected to grow by about 3% in 2022. The increase in the average inflation rate from 2.2% in 2020 to 3.6% in 2021 was the result of supply constraints in food as well as a rise in international oil prices as well as local rent. The stock of international reserve stood at N$ 32.9 billion, which is estimated to cover 5.8 months of imports, which is enough to protect the currency peg as well as meeting Namibia’s international financial obligations.
