By CentralBankNews.info
Namibia’s central bank cut its benchmark repo rate for the third time this year, saying this was to “support weak domestic activity and provide short-term relief amid the extraordinary circumstances arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Bank of Namibia (BOM) cut its rate by a further 100 basis points to 4.25 percent and has cut it by 225 points this year following cuts in February and March.
BOM has been lowering its rate since August 2017 and has now cut it four times since then by a total of 275 basis points.
BOM, which pegs its Nambian dollar to South Africa’s rand, said the rate cut would not compromise the one-to-one link between the currencies.
On Tuesday the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) cut its policy rate for the second time in less than a month and for the third time this year as it upped its forecast for economic contraction in 2020.
This year SARB has cut its repo rate by a total of 225 basis points to 4.25 percent.