s decision to transition from consumption credit to a more productive credit as the later will help contribute to the production capacity of our economy and contribute to the stability of your bank and ultimately sustainable economic development in namibia. 16. ladies and gentleman 17. on 28 october 2010, i ended my speech with the chinese adage “ a journey of thousand miles begins with the first step ” i believe we have taken the first step toward financial inclusion. we have travelled about 500 miles of that journey, we still have some more miles to get there, but getting there we shall. getting there, however, requires that all of us should continue to work hard as a team to create a sustainable and an inclusive financial sector for our children and their children ’ s future. i believe, letshego is one of the trailblazers on this journey, we look forward to continue travelling with you. i thank you for your kind attention iipumbu shiimi.

of some 22 % over the last five years, is quite substantial. this has given vent to the fears in certain quarters that this expansion might not be in the long - run interest of the economy, particularly if it crowds out private sector role. chart development in income and demand 1990 - 99 de ve l op me nt s in income and de mand 1990 - 99 - 2 - 4 real gdp real grossnational income the trends in income and demand developments have not been encouraging either. gross national income lagged behind gdp for a greater part of the 1990 ’ s reflecting a decline in the country ’ s terms of trade. chart private and public consumption gr owt h in p r ivat e and p ub l ic cons ump t ion - 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 govornment conummption private consumption real gdp ) the incomes of households followed the developments in gross national income, as the share of wage income remained relatively stable. private consumption suffered for a greater part of the 1990 ’ s under the weight of falling real incomes and rising real interest rates. on the other hand government consumption represented a disproportionate share of gdp. it has been observed that among developing countries, the share of government consumption in gdp, which is currently put at about 30 %, is the highest. unemployment trends the labour market in namibia is characterised by an excess supply of unskilled labour and, at the same time, a lack of skilled labour. available data suggest that the unemployment rate rose from 33 % in 1994 to 35 % in 1997. lack of data precludes us from making sufficient observations on the unemployment trends in the economy since then, but whatever little evidence there is, points to the fact that the unemployment situation has worsened. government remains the main employer of labour. this has resulted in a burgeoning public sector wage bill. although available statistics show that sectors such as finance and transport are making necessary efforts, the overall situation remains difficult and requires a structural policy thrust. 4. factors that impacted on growth and development in attempting to reduce the reliance of the economy on primary exports, the government objective has been to promote sustainable economic growth through a strategy of diversification since independence. the promotion of manufacturing activities, development of the agricultural sector, the fishing industry and tourism have been identified as having the most potential to provide impetus for the diversification strategy under the first national development plan. the government introduced specific measures targeted at promoting growth, development and job creation