Positive economic growth: !Gawaxab

LOCAL economist Johannes !Gawaxab has said that the Namibian economy is likely to grow by more than four per cent this year and that inflation will be at round five per cent by year-end.

!Gawaxab, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual Namibia, said this at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Swakopmund this week. He said although lower interest rates were good for the economy, borrowers and consumers, the same was not true for retail and institutional investors, because returns on investments had halved over the past two years.!Gawaxab urged investors dependent on interest income to take different types of risks and move out of their comfort zone if they wanted to maximise income.”Investment return on unit trusts (money market and income) is expected to be taxed soon in Namibia.Investors who are concerned about protecting their capital from volatility, but would also like to participate in rising equity markets, could consider alternative strategies,” said !Gawaxab.For the past few years, said !Gawaxab, money-market fund returns after tax and inflation have been much lower than the yields available on other fixed-income investments.Commenting on the outlook for inflation, !Gawaxab said the structural picture looked good and the outlook for short-term interest rates over the next two years remained favourable.He said although lower interest rates were good for the economy, borrowers and consumers, the same was not true for retail and institutional investors, because returns on investments had halved over the past two years.!Gawaxab urged investors dependent on interest income to take different types of risks and move out of their comfort zone if they wanted to maximise income.”Investment return on unit trusts (money market and income) is expected to be taxed soon in Namibia.Investors who are concerned about protecting their capital from volatility, but would also like to participate in rising equity markets, could consider alternative strategies,” said !Gawaxab.For the past few years, said !Gawaxab, money-market fund returns after tax and inflation have been much lower than the yields available on other fixed-income investments.Commenting on the outlook for inflation, !Gawaxab said the structural picture looked good and the outlook for short-term interest rates over the next two years remained favourable.