WINDHOEK, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's public debt is projected to increase from 68.7 percent of GDP in 2021/22 financial year to 74.2 percent by 2023/24 financial year, Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi said Wednesday.
According to Shiimi, the projected budget deficit is still relatively high, particularly for the 2022/23 financial year.
"These high debt levels remain a real concern in the medium term. The fiscal consolidation exercise we have pursued since 2016 had yielded results, nonetheless, much of these gains had been undone by our interventions to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic," Shiimi said.
As such, there is still an imperative to maintain a growth-friendly fiscal consolidation process to restore fiscal and debt sustainability in the medium term, he said.
Shiimi added that the scope for further expenditure consolidation has thinned significantly, signaling a need to greatly shift focus towards resuscitating sustainable economic growth. Enditem
