By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Erastus
The Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Industry, and Public Administration, has asked the Central Bank to conclude the impact assessment of commercial banks fees and charges and share it with the Ministry of Finance.
The governor of the Bank of Namibia appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economy and Industry early this week, according to the statement released from Parliament.
Commercial Banks’ fees on various banking products have been under public scrutiny for the past years, with a number of Parliamentarians calling for them to be looked at.
However, there hasn’t been any official assessment on how they affect households and businesses that use them, as well as the impact on access to banking services.
The impact assessment is expeditiously shared with the Minister of Finance to enable her to finalise the regulations on fees and charges.
During the engagement, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economy and Industry, Iipumbu Shiimi, has asked the Central Bank, which is the regulator of commercial banks, to provide the assessment as soon as possible.
Shiimi demanded that BoN conclude the impact assessment on fees and charges, and this assessment will soon be shared with the Ministry of Finance.
He said the report will guide the Finance Ministry in finalising the regulations in conjunction with Section 107 of the Banking Institutions Act of 2023, aimed at curbing the high cost of banking services.
BoN is held to account to the public through the Standing Committee, which monitors how BoN is carrying out its mandate.
It is the first time that the new Standing Committee of the 8th Parliament is engaging with BoN.
Shiimi explained that the mandate of the Committee is to provide Parliamentary supervision and oversight of the economy, industry, public administration, and planning of the country. Hence, the engagement with BoN.
In terms of Section 68 of the BON Act of 2020, the Governor must appear at least once a year before the relevant committee of Parliament to report on its operations and affairs of monetary policy operations, the state of the economy, and other relevant matters.
Shiimi, who is also a former governor, stated that the Central Bank is an important national institution with the mandate of contributing to the economic health of Namibia.
“BoN takes decisions that have a significant impact on the lives of ordinary Namibians,” he highlighted.
Beyond the fees and charges assessment report, the Committee asked the Central Bank to continue to ensure that inflation is effectively mitigated.
At the same time, BoN was reminded that the new strategy to invest in gold will not undermine the level of the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
Moreover, the Committee asked for the strengthening of the Central Bank’s capacity in key central banking functions by developing more capacity in stress testing and crisis simulations
to better manage the economy, which is becoming increasingly complex.
The Economy and Industry Committee has also asked the Central Bank to put in place platforms that will enable young people to receive payments from outside when they sell their creative content.
In this regard, BoN informed the Committee that there is no legal hindrance for these platforms to be made available in the country, but it is mainly a business decision.
The central bank, however, indicated that they are working together with the MICT to attract service providers of platforms such as PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay to set up in Namibia.
