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THIS country’s economy contracted by 2.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, Central Bank figures revealed, with declines across both the energy and non-energy sectors. It was a development the bank's Monetary Policy Committee cited when it left the policy repo rate unchanged at 3.50 per cent, on September 26.

The central bank’s Economic DataPack for September 2025 reported energy-sector output fell 4.8 per cent year-on-year in quarter one (Q1) while the non-energy sector contracted by one per cent, underlining that the downturn was broad-based.

These declines, the bank said, were reflected in a mixed performance across petroleum and related industries: crude oil output posted a modest increase in April; natural gas production eased; and petrochemical output diverged – gains in ammonia and urea were offset by a sharp fall in methanol.