BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) has been able to maintain the same inflation rate in the last two months.
This is according to the May/June 2024 Recent Economic Development report. According to this report, the CBE has been able to keep the inflation rate at 4.1 percent. The report states that the CBE maintained the same rate in May, the same way it had done in the previous two months.
“Annual consumer inflation remained unchanged for the second consecutive month at 4.1 percent in May 2024, same as in the previous two months,” said part of the report. Meanwhile, the broad money supply has declined by 0.5 percent to reach E23.1 billion.
The discount and prime lending rate remained unchanged for the month of May 2024 at 7.50 percent and 11 percent, respectively. During the month of June 2024, the Rand/Lilangeni exchange rate marginally depreciated against the US Dollar.
Credit extended to the private sector closed the month under review at E19.8 billion, higher by 2.6 percent month-on-month. Eswatini’s stock of broad money supply (M2), declined by 0.5 per cent month-on-month to reach E23.1 billion at the end of May 2024.
Preliminary data indicates that gross official reserves declined by 15.4 percent month-on-month to reach E8 billion at the end of June 2024. Total public debt stood at E33.4 billion as at the end of June 2024, an equivalent of 36.1 percent of GDP. n June 2024, the country recorded a trade surplus of E90.4 million, compared to a surplus of E239.4 million in the preceding month.