WINDHOEK, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's current account recorded a surplus of 1.1 billion Namibian dollars (77.8 million U.S. dollars) during the first quarter of 2019, the Bank of Namibia (BoN) said Friday.

The surplus was recorded from a deficit of 1 billion Namibian dollars (70.7 million U.S. dollars) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, said the central bank in its quarterly bulletin.

"This was largely driven by the substantial decline in the values of merchandise imports and, to a lesser extent, the increase in export earnings," said the report.

"The stock of foreign reserves held by Bank of Namibia increased due to the impact of the second tranche of the African Development Bank loan, coupled with exchange rate revaluations," it said.

"This resulted in an import cover of 5.4 months at the end of the first quarter of 2019," the report added.

According to the report, the Namibia dollar depreciated against all major trading currencies due to tighter global financial conditions, financial market volatility, trade wars and Brexit negotiations, as well as sustained uncertainty regarding land expropriation in South Africa. Enditem

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