Namibia’s Debt Balloons to 70%

[PODCAST]

NAMIBIA’s national debt has gone up by more than half in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) in the last seven years.
Minister of finance and public enterprises Iipumbu Shiimi recently told Namibia Media Holdings’ ‘Evening Review’ show that public debt used to be around 20% of GDP, but has ballooned to 70%.
He said this is due to a decline in economic activity and no reduction in expenditure. In the current financial year, Shiimi has set aside close to N$10 billion to cover some of this debt.
Is the current government setting up the next generation into a potential debt hole and when will the borrowing slow down?
To unpack this we are joined by economist at the Namibia Statistics Agency Salomo Hei as well as law maker Dudu Murorua