BY SETHABILE MYENI
MBABANE – 2024 promises to be a good year for Eswatini.
This is reflected in the 2023 Third quarter GDP bulletin for the Kingdom of Eswatini. It has since been disclosed that Eswatini’s economy has increased by seven per cent.
The good news were shared by University of Eswatini Economics Lecturer Sanele Sibiya. He was speaking this morning during Letishisako program at EBIS.
Sibiya said Eswatini has successfully executed strategies that have helped the country reduce its economic challenges in 2023.
“The results of the programmes and strategies that were meant to increase the economy were hindered by the worldwide economic problems such as the high cost of living which then caused the increased interest rates in countries all over the world. This affected the growth of the economy,” he said.
Sibiya explained that the reports from the last quarter of 2023 reflected that the Eswatini economy grew by seven per cent compared to the second quarter. He said this shows that there are efforts towards improving the economy of the country.
“Regardless of the challenges faced by the country, and considering the fact that 2023 is the first year after COVID-19, there is still improvement to our economy. It has been a while since we recorded such growth. In fact, this is a positive achievement to us and we aim to achieve more,” said Sibiya.
He further stated that the inflation rates in most European countries is decreasing, but not to the level that the interest rates would stop increasing.
He, however, warned that Eswatini should stay alert because there is still a risk to its economic growth.
“The country should also look into opportunities of decreasing the cost of living pressures so that emaSwati should be able to afford food stuffs. The Government should also improve its supply chains,” said Sibiya.
