Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Central Bank of Eswatini’s (CBE) recent economic development reports for May – June 2023 indicates that the ‘mining and quarrying’ subsector grew by 14.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2023.
It was reported that the growth was largely attributed to a 19.8 per cent increase in coal production, this acceleration came from the resumption of the mining of crown land, following temporary stoppages experienced in the previous quarter. It was reported that other subsectors that witnessed growth in the primary sector included the ‘growing of crops’, and ‘animal production’.
Rebounding
The ‘growing of crops’ subsector grew by 9.3 per cent in the quarter under review, rebounding from a decline of 0.9 per cent, mainly benefitting from developments in sugar cane production. Similarly, the ‘animal production’ subsector grew by 2.4 per cent in the quarter under review, from 11.3 per cent in the previous quarter, owing to increases in both ‘home and commercial’ cattle slaughters. As such, the economic activity, as measured by the Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (QGDP), grew by a slower 1.1 per cent year-on-year (seasonally adjusted) in the first quarter of 2023, down from a revised growth of 6.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. The slight growth observed in the quarter under review was attributed to positive performance in the primary and tertiary sectors. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, economic activity grew by 2.5 per cent (seasonally adjusted) in the quarter under review, from a revised contraction of 0.3 per cent in the previous quarter. The primary sector grew by a slower 3.4 per cent, year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, from a revised growth of 5.0 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Tertiary
The tertiary sector, accounting for approximately 61 per cent of total industries, grew by a slower 8.6 per cent year-on-year, in the first quarter of 2023, from a revised growth of 11.2 per cent in the previous quarter. The observed growth largely benefitted from increased economic activity in the ‘wholesale and retail’, ‘accommodation and food services’, ‘information and communication’ and ‘financial and insurance services’ subsectors. Activity from the ‘wholesale and retail trade’ subsector grew by a slower 4.1 per cent in the quarter under review, from 18.3 per cent in the previous quarter.
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