Africa-Press – Eswatini. Due to the prevailing unstable situation in the country members of the public have been warned about an increased cost for essential goods and services.
Southern African Research Foundation for Economic Development (SARFED) Regional Coordinator Dr George Choongwa in his analysis of the country’s situation said in most cases, when an economy was faced with high degree of uncertainty, the supply side of the economy would hold the supply of goods and services in anticipation of better trading conditions in the future.
“This would then cause unnecessary hike of prices in the short run, hence causing an artificial high cost of disposable income and dissaving at household level due to lack of accumulation of surplus funds,” Choongwa stated.
The regional coordinator explained that a majority of the population in industry among developing countries like Eswatini has the high degree dependence on public facilities such as transport, health, and markets.
He said, however, this was a challenge when an economy was under siege caused by artificial disruptions like strikes and other related vices.
“For example, if there was no provision of public transport, an average employee at low social ranking like house keepers and other micro activities whose income was based on daily takings for survival would be faced with the challenge of sustainability, hence broadening the poverty gap,” Choongwa said.
He disclosed that currently, Eswatini’s general poverty profile was about 59 per cent with about 20 per cent living in extreme poverty, though a significant improvement from about 72 per cent for 2016 and subsequent 82 per cent in the year 2000.
According to Choongwa, like other social risk factors, strikes cause physical inactivity whose adverse effect could be that of poor institutional productivity both on private and public sectors as well as individuals.
He said specifically, physical inactivity could bring about increased absenteeism, which imposes direct economic costs to employers as this would contribute towards high cost of doing business.
The regional coordinator said Eswatini was already in the process of recovering from economic turmoil it faced during the 2021 civil unrest which saw more than 12 000 jobs lost.
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