Foreign reserves up by N$1 billion

Jo-Maré Duddy – Namibia ended 2020 with international reserves totalling nearly N$31.75 billion.
This is around N$1.2 billion or 4% more than November.
Releasing the latest monetary and banking statistics this morning, the Bank of Namibia (BoN) said the increase in the country’s official reserve stock was mainly due to net inflows of rand currency from commercial banks during the period under review.
The central government’s balance at the central bank saw improvements over the month, increasing by some N$776.5 million to about N$4.8 billion. However, compared to December 2019, the balance was nearly N$1.1 billion lower.
The overall liquidity position of the banking sector decreased notably during the last month of 2020.
According to the BoN, liquidity balances held by commercial banks decreased by N$1.1 billion from November to an average to N$1.2 billion. The decline was mainly due to periodic corporate tax payments to government, the central bank said.