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DOMESTIC DEBT RISES BY 6.1%

12/12/2019 22:12:00 BY KWANELE DHLADHLA

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MBABANE - Outstanding domestic debt stood at E11.2 billion, an equivalent of 16.7 per cent of GDP as at end of November 2019.
This depicted an increase of 6.1 per cent when compared to E10.5 billion recorded in October 2019.

“The increase was due to an additional advance extended to government as well as an improved uptake of treasury bills in the month under review,” reported the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE).

Advance

The bank said during the month of November 2019, government further requested for an additional advance from the central bank amounting to E560 million which, was accessed in three different tranches. The central bank announced that on behalf of government they would issue an Infrastructure bond on December 20, 2019. “Funds raised from this bond will be used to construct factory shells for potential investors such as Kellogg Company.

This will be a re-opening of a bond that was first issued on September 28, 2018. The amount on offer is E100 million with a coupon rate of 9.5 per cent and the maturity date for this bond is September 28, 2024,” explained CBE. It was also pointed out that commercial banks continued to dominate participation in government securities on the shorter end of the yield curve while non-bank financial institutions dominate on the longer term securities.

In the month of October 2019, CBE mentioned that the country recorded a reduced trade surplus of E479.1 million compared to E716.2 million recorded in the previous month. It was stated that exports for the month increased marginally, amounting to E2.803 billion, from E2.702 billion in September 2019, all below the E2.900 billion of the same period in 2018. Exports to-date amounted to E23.350 billion, which was 19.7 per cent higher than cumulative exports earnings up to October 2018.

Increase

“The import bill surged in the month of October 2019 to register E2.324 billion, which represents a monthly increase of 17 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, the import bill declined by 12.1 per cent. Cumulative imports to-date, were valued at E20.545 billion, almost at par with those as at October 2018, of E20.562 billion. Year-to-date trade surplus is valued at E2.805 billion,” added CBE.