BoN Revises Economic Growth Forecast Monday,June 22,2009 Posted: 23:12 BJT(12 GMT)   From:New Era    Article type:Reproduced BoN Revises Economic Growth Forecast (By Desie Heita, New Era, 18 June, 2009) The reserve bank has reviewed its earlier economic growth forecasts to a negative growth this year, as tourism arrivals plummet and estimation for diamond production plunge by 63 precent. The new forecast by the Bank of Namibia puts this year’s economic growth at minus 0.6 percent from an earlier forecast of 0.4 percent. Diamond production is estimated at just below 800 000 carats from 2.1 million carats recorded in 2008. Land diamond mining is not in operation while the offshore mining is operating at a very low level. Value addition is also expected to slow down on account of decreased production. Tourism sector has contracted 20 percent has tourist arrivals decrease and booking cancellations skyrocket. In addition, the Bank of Namibia says the cancellation of Air Namibia’s direct route between Windhoek and London would have a negative impact as most tourists do no like connecting flights, resulting in them changing their destinations to elsewhere.

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