Namibia’s foreign trade deficit expanded by 68% y/y to NAD9.9bn ($770.5mn) in the second quarter, data from Namibia Statistics Agency showed.
The country’s exports grew 2.3% q/q to NAD13.9bn in Q2, while imports soared 22% y/y to NAD23.8bn.
Compared to Q2 2014, Namibia’s exports plummeted 39% and imports dropped 20%, resulting in a 42% expansion of the trade gap.
Diamonds remained Nabia’s top export commodity in Q2, accounting for 38.4% of total export revenues, followed by fish with a 13.1% share, copper cathodes with 7.5%, and copper ores also with 7.5%.
The main import commodity were mineral fuels and oils, contributing 20% to total imports, followed by vehicles with a 10.8% share.
The Bank of Namibia has hiked its main repo rate by a total of 100bp since June 2014 in a bid to contain a persistently strong growth in instalment credit, used predominantly for purchase of unproductive imported luxury goods, chiefly cars, that put pressure on the country’s international reserves. Imports of vehicles fell 6.4% y/y to ZAR2.57bn in Q2.
Botswana remained Namibia’s main export market in Q2, with a share of 25.3%, followed by South Africa with 19.4%, and Switzerland with 9.2%.
South Africa remained the main importer into the country with a 65.5% share of total imports, followed by China with 8.7%, and India with 2.9%.
| External trade, NAD mn | Q2 2015 | Q1 2015 | Q2 2014 | y/y change | q/q change |
| Total exports (fob) | 13 911 | 13 602 | 22 730 | -38.8% | 2.3% |
| Total imports (cif) | 23 764 | 19 464 | 29 673 | -19.9% | 22.1% |
| TRADE BALANCE | -9 853 | -5 862 | -6 943 | 41.9% | 68.1% |
| Source: Namibia Statistics Agency | |||||
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