Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi has projected a budget deficit of 5.6 per cent for the 2022/2023 financial year.
Speaking before Parliament on Thursday where he presented the upcoming budget, Shiimi also stated that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is expected to register a 5.5 per cent deficit of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Accordingly, a balanced fiscal consolidation policy stance remains necessary over the medium term,” he explained.
Shiimi further stated that because of the country’s outstanding debt stock, the projected budget deficit is still relatively high, projecting that the public debt stock is expected to increase to N.dollars 140.2 billion.
This will be equivalent to 71.0 per cent of GDP.
In 2021/2022, Shiimi had projected that the public debt would rise to N.dollars 140.8 billion, about 76.2 per cent of GDP.
“The elevated public debt remains a primary concern in the medium term. In this regard, the government is committed to redirecting much of the revenue increases in the coming years, as the economy recovers, towards debt redemption and reducing the borrowing requirement,” he said.
Shiimi then cautioned that while these measures are in place, the government is also cognisant of the possibility that further expenditure consolidation has thinned significantly, which is why the policy is now shifting to focus towards entrenching sustainable economic growth.
Minister Shiimi tabled an overall N.dollars 61.6 billion national budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
