Central Procurement Board must prioritise local businesses to create jobs
WINDHOEK – It is imperative that financial resources allocated in the national budget circulate in the domestic economy, as more money spent locally will have a greater impact on economic growth and job creation. This is according to a local economist, Klaus Schade, who feels the Central Procurement Board has to ensure that preference is […]
Loud silence as Harambee turned three
The Harambee Prosperity Plan – launched in 2016 – turned three years old on 1 April 2019. The Presidency could however not respond to questions regarding the progress of the plan saying a progress report will form part of the upcoming State of Nation Address. The State of the Nation Address (SONA) is an annual […]
BoN not worried about SARB nationalisation
Central bank deputy governor, Ebson Uanguta has said that the bank is not worried about calls by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to nationalise the partly private owned South African Reserve Bank despite the economic link between South Africa and Namibia. Speaking at the side-lines of the monetary policy announcement this week, Uanguta said the […]
Of tax-free allowances and inequality – Klaus Schade
Sometimes, well-meant interventions have unintended consequences. One case in point are tax-free allowances, such as tax-free housing allowances, tax-free car allowances, tax-free pension fund contributions, etc. Namibia has a progressive income tax system with marginal tax rates rising with increased taxable income. This, however, results in tax-free allowances being regressive meaning that the better off […]
Doubling Psemas fees will impact lower earners harder – Schade
During the tabling of the national budget on Wednesday, Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein announced that the member’s contribution to the Public Service Medical Aid Scheme (Psemas), which has for long been static, will be doubled to bring the total contribution from the current N$410 million to N$820 million, effective April 2019. However, an economic analyst […]
Namibia’s ability to be a logistics hub challenged
NAMIBIA’S vision of becoming a logistics hub is too ambitious, desultory and costly, and should be reassessed, says Rainer Ritter of the Economic Association of Namibia (EAN). Ritter made the above remarks at the launch of EANs public enterprises review, titled Namport Within the Context of a Logistics Hub in Windhoek this week. The review […]
MTEF2019/20 to 2021/22 – First impressions
EAN member Klaus Schade shared his first impressions of the MTEF 2019/20 to 2021/22 at a breakfast meeting organised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Economics and Public Administration and the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung on 28 March 2019.
To empower or to disempower?
The world has just celebrated International Women’s Day with calls for additional efforts to empower women. Similarly, empowering currently disadvantaged persons is high on our national agenda. However, it appears empowerment is limited to the formal side of society and the economy. Vendors (often women) trying to make ends meet and cater not only for […]
Namibia’s fiscal policy at a crossroads
The Namibian economy is at a difficult juncture when it comes to its fiscal policy since the country’s independence in 1990, which has seen government debt and deficit levels rise significantly over the years reaching critical levels of 50% of the gross domestic product (GDP) exacerbated by weak economic recovery. Economic experts have been pressuring […]
Budget delay raises suspicions
Delays in tabling the 2019/20 national budget have raised suspicions amongst economists, who strongly suspect that the economy might be in turmoil than widely thought. Executive Assistant to the Finance Minister, Esau Mbako, confirmed on Thursday that the tabling of the 2019/20 fiscal year budget has been postponed to the 27th of March, the second […]