In the local market this week, the NSX Local index was down 0.49% at 465.4, and the NSX Overall Index was up 2.19% at 1621.8. As at 16 August 2022, Namibia Breweries was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 8.3 billion, followed by FirstRand Namibia with N$ 8.0 billion, Mobile Telecommunications with N$ 5.6 billion and Capricorn Group with N$ 5.4 billion. Agra lead the market this week, closing at N$ 2.5 per share after growth of 1.6%, with FirstRand Namibia second, closing at N$ 30 after growth of 0.8%. In terms of volume FirstRand Namibia lead the market with N$ 0.7 million worth of shares traded, with Namibia Breweries in second place with N$ 0.6 million worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 1.18% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 16.37 per USD, and gained 1.05% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 19.80 per GBP. It closed at N$ 19.80 against the Euro, a gain of 1.58%.
The Bank of Namibia held its Monetary Policy Committee meeting this week, and announced that the Repo rate will be increasing by 75 basis points to 5.50%. They noted that this was needed to anchor inflation expectations in the economy. According to the Bank, domestic economic activity rebounded in the first half of 2022, with the economy expected to grow by about 3.2% in 2022. The domestic inflation is increasing, averaging 5.3% in the first seven months of the year due to a rise in international oil and food prices. Inflation is expected to average at 5.8% for 2022. The stock of international reserve stood at N$ 49.2 billion, which is estimated to cover 6.1 months of imports, which is enough to protect the currency peg as well as meeting Namibia’s international financial obligations.
