NAMIBIAN Finance Minister Nangoloh Mbumba has tabled a national budget of 9.8bn Namibian dollars (about $1.255bn), with an estimated deficit of 3.6% of the country’s gross domestic product. The deficit is 0.5% greater than last year’s, with Mbumba attributing the increase to a slump in the national currency against the dollar and the euro, and to rising costs of imported oil. He estimated that the Namibian economy would grow by a modest three percent in the coming financial year, and that inflation – currently at nine percent – would decline marginally. Growth last year reached 2.9%. The budget makes substantial provision for dealing with civil servants living with HIV/AIDS – the public service medical expenses budget has been increased by 60%.
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