(Bloomberg) -- Namibia’s central bank sees the nation’s economy shrinking 6.9% this year, which would be the biggest contraction since the country gained independence in 1991.
The central bank released its gross domestic product forecast in an economic outlook update received by email Tuesday. The southwest African nation’s economy contracted 1.1% in 2019 and growth is expected to rebound 1.8% next year, the bank said.
Namibia implemented a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus and halted substantive mining and quarrying operations. The country is the world’s top producer of marine diamonds and the fifth-biggest of uranium.
The diamond-mining sector will probably decline by 14.9% in 2020, while uranium mining may shrink 22%, the central bank said.
