Fitch lowers Namibia view to negative

Fitch Ratings said it revised the outlook on Namibia's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to negative from stable and affirmed its issuer default rating at BB+.

The outlook revision reflects Namibia's weak growth performance and downward assessment of growth prospects with adverse implications for the government's ability to stabilize the public debt trajectory, Fitch said.

The economy is yet to rebound from the downturn that followed the 2010 to 2015 mining and construction boom, the agency explained.

The previous expectation of a gradual growth recovery in 2018 has not materialized, Fitch added.

GDP declined for the 10th consecutive quarter in the third quarter of 2018 and Fitch said it now expects it to have contracted by 0.4% in 2018 versus an earlier forecast of 0.6% growth.

The contraction reflects weak domestic demand due mostly to fiscal consolidation, lower private investment and soft disposable income growth, as well as sluggish activity in neighboring South Africa and Angola, the agency said.

This was only partly offset by robust activity in mining mostly due to the ramp up of the Husab mega-mine's production of uranium, Fitch said.

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