Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) believes that it has significantly lowered the perceived barriers for entry in the banking industry by opening for more players.
CBE Governor Dr Phil Mnisi said they did this through the introduction of the new CBE Policy on Licensing of Banking and Financial Institutions No.1 of 2021 that accommodates various types of licences at tiered levels. He reported that the banking system remained sound – with strong liquidity buffers and adequately capitalised. He said the sector continued to be profitable, demonstrating financial sustainability.
Improved
At the same time, asset quality marginally improved as reflected by a decrease in the industry’s non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio. The NPLs ratio declined to 7.2 per cent in March 2023 from the 7.4 per cent reported in March 2022. NPLs further declined to 7.1 per cent as at end of June 2023. With regard to market conduct and consumer protection, the governor said the bank continued to strengthen supervision to ensure that financial consumers were treated fairly, including monitoring banks’ compliance with the Consumer Credit Act, 2016 (as amended). He said the CBE also introduced a robust pricing review for the banking industry to ensure that banks charge fair fees for their products and services. On financial stability, Mnisi said the bank was continuously monitoring economic developments to ensure that imminent risks were swiftly corrected to preserve financial stability. He said the aim was to ensure that the financial system was capable of withstanding internal and external shocks.
Elevated
Key risks to the financial system stability were elevated when compared to the previous years, but with no destabilising impact. He noted that risks emanating from the external and domestic economic environments, household sector, corporate sector and banking sector remained high. He said on the other hand, risks from the payment and settlement system remained relatively low over the reporting period.
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