Import bill rises by N$ 6.7 million in Q1 of 2018

WINDHOEK, 20 JUN  – Namibia’s import bill rose by N$6.7 million to N$27.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 from N$20.5 million during the same period of 2017.
This was revealed by Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) General-Statistician, Alex Shimuafeni who released the first quarterly trade statistics bulletin at a media conference on Tuesday.
He said of the N$6.7 million, N$3.6 million was used to purchase a vessel from the Bahamas, but could not elaborate on whether the vessel belonged to Government.
The Bahamas was not a major trading partner but emerged as a major import partner as a result of the purchase of the vessel during the first quarter of 2018, Shimuafeni added.
The recent increase in imports was also largely due to a high domestic demand of goods from other countries such as South Africa, Zambia, China and Botswana amounting to N$10.9 million, N$3.6 million, N$1.8 million and N$1.3 million respectively.
In terms of commodities, Shimuafeni noted that vessels, copper cathodes, mineral fuel and oils, boilers and vehicles were the most imported commodities, which contributed largely to the import bill for quarter one of 2018.
Vehicles imported were mainly for production factors, he stated.
Furthermore, the Southern African Customs Union remained the largest source of domestic imports accounting for 49,8 per cent.
The Southern African Development Community and non-Southern African Customs Union ranked second with 16 per cent share, while the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa occupied the third position with 15 per cent share of the total import bill.
NAMPA