Chamwe Kaira
Namibia’s official stock of international reserves increased slightly at the end of November 2025, supported mainly by revaluation gains, according to the Bank of Namibia’s (BoN) money and banking statistics.
Month-on-month, official reserves rose by 1.2% to N$49.2 billion at the end of November.
The increase was driven by favourable price movements on fixed-income securities and a modest rise in customer foreign currency placements by commercial banks.
At this level, reserves were enough to cover an estimated 3.2 months of imports, or 3.6 months when oil and gas exploration-related imports are excluded.
Liquidity conditions in the banking sector improved during the month. Average cash balances increased by 4.2% to N$5.4 billion.
The central bank linked the improvement to diamond sales proceeds and investment inflows. This marked a partial recovery after the liquidity pressure seen in October following government domestic funding operations related to the Eurobond redemption.
Growth in broad money supply continued to slow. Year-on-year growth in M2 eased to 7.2% in November from 7.5% in October, bringing the total stock of broad money to N$170.3 billion.
The slowdown reflected weaker growth in domestic claims, especially net claims on central government and claims on other sectors.
Domestic claims growth moderated to 15.9% from 17.7% in the previous month, while net foreign assets continued to decline, weighing on overall money supply growth.
On the liabilities side, growth in other deposits, mainly long-term deposits, slowed to 12.4% in November from 13.2% in October.
The decline reflected lower long-term deposits held by the state, local authorities, state-owned enterprises, households, businesses and other financial corporations amid lower interest rates.
Currency outside depository corporations also grew more slowly, rising by 4.6% in November compared to 5.2% in October.
Growth in transferable deposits strengthened, supported by higher demand from businesses and state-owned enterprises.
Private sector credit extension edged lower during the month, pointing to weak borrowing appetite.
Annual growth slowed to 4.5% in November from 4.7% in October, driven by lower demand and net repayments by both households and companies.
Instalment sale and leasing credit showed modest improvement. Growth rose to 18.9% in November from 18.4% in October, supported mainly by stronger household borrowing.
This trend was reflected in the vehicle market. Annual growth in new vehicle sales increased to 13.8% from 10.7%.
A total of 1 224 new vehicles were sold in November, compared to 1 267 units in October and 1 093 units in November 2024. Higher sales of commercial vehicles pointed to firmer local demand.
Mortgage credit remained under pressure. Annual growth stayed negative for the third month in a row, contracting by 0.5% in November after a 0.9% decline in October.
Mortgage lending to businesses remained negative for the thirteenth consecutive month, while lending to households was unchanged at 0.0%, highlighting continued weakness in demand for housing finance.
Caption
Stock of international reserves increased marginally at the end of November.
- Photo: Bank of Namibia
