Africa-Press – Eswatini. Preliminary gross official reserves increased by 19.1 per cent from June 2023 and 3.7 per cent year-on-year to reach E8.2 billion at the end of July 2023.
According to the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) monthly statistical release for June/July, the growth in reserves was on account of the trimestral inflow of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts at the beginning of July 2023. At this level, the reserves were enough to cover 2.6 months of imports of goods and services, reflecting an improvement from the 2.2 months covered in June 2023.
Reflecting
Valued in special drawing rights (SDR), the reserves amounted to SDR344.2 million at the end of July 2023, reflecting an expansion of 25.1 per cent month-on-month and a decline of 5.3 per cent year-on-year. The CBE also reported that credit extended to the private sector went up by 1.7 per cent from May 2023 and 9.2 per cent year-on-year to settle at E18.2 billion at the end of June 2023. Contributing to the rise in private sector credit was growth in credit to businesses. The growth was partly offset by a fall in credit to other sectors of the domestic economy as well as households & non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). Credit extended to businesses closed the month under review at E9.0 billion, reflecting an increase of 4.5 per cent month-on-month and 12.4 per cent relative to June 2022. Growth in credit to businesses was on account of credit to the following subsectors; distribution and tourism (18.1 per cent), real estate (2.3 per cent), and construction (1.2 per cent).
A further breakdown of credit to the business sector by size, showed that credit extended to large enterprises improved by 5.9 per cent month-on-month and 8.2 per cent year-on-year to E6.3 billion. The growth was mainly registered in credit extended to community, social and personal services sector and distribution and tourism sector. It was reported that credit extended to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), on the other hand, grew by 1.3 per cent to settle at E2.7 billion at the end of June 2023. The increase was mainly observed in credit to the construction and transport and communication sectors.
Grew
Meanwhile, credit extended to other sectors contracted by 4.4 per cent month-on-month and grew by 36.0 per cent year-on-year to close the month under review at E1.0 billion. The month-on-month reduction was driven by credit to other financial corporations and public nonfinancial corporations, which fell by 4.9 per cent to E643.6 million and 4.8 per cent to E325.2 million, respectively. In contrast, credit to local government grew by 3.2 per cent to close the review month at E64.5 million. Credit extended to households and NPISH closed the month under review at E8.1 billion, reflecting a contraction of 0.3 per cent month-on-month and growth of 3.2 per cent year-on-year. The month-on-month reduction was driven by other personal (unsecured) loans, which decelerated by 3.0 per cent to E3.0 billion. Mortgage and motor vehicle loans, on the other hand, improved by 1.5 per cent to E4.1 billion and 0.7 per cent to E981.7 million, respectively.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
