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ESWATINI TRADE SURPLUS UP 71.4%

23/05/2024 08:30:00 Nhlanganiso Mkhonta

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MBABANE – Eswatini’s trade balance reflected a surplus amounting to E562 million in the first quarter of 2024 (January – March 2024.

This was significantly (71.4 per cent) higher than the surplus recorded in the last quarter of 2023. According to the quarterly economic bulletin report compiled by the Macroeconomic Analysis and Research Unit in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, in the quarter under review, the total merchandise exports were recorded at E10.480 billion while the total merchandise imports were at E9.918 billion. During the quarter, total merchandise exports contracted by 0.9 per cent relative to Q4 of 2023. This was mainly driven by a decrease in the exports of miscellaneous edibles, textiles and food processing which fell by 5.1 per cent, 20.1 per cent and 2.4 per cent. On the contrary, sugar as well as forestry and related products grew by 14.1 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively.

Imports

Similarly, the total merchandise imports declined by 3.2 per cent relative to the preceding quarter, owing to a fall in the imports of food (5.2 per cent), fuel and energy (3.3 per cent), as well as other intermediary consumption goods (1.5 per cent). However, imports of capital goods grew by 8.2 per cent, reflecting increased construction activity during this period.
In terms of export destinations, the Southern African Custom Unit (SACU) market remained a major destination for the country’s exports as the region absorbed 70.1 per cent of the total exports, which however, reflected a 1.7 percentage points decrease compared to the 3rd quarter of 2023. The sub-Saharan (SSA) region was the second largest export destination and accounted for 21.9 per cent of the country’s exports. Exports to the European Union (EU) and Asia increased by 3.5 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points respectively.

A similar trend was also observed in the imports as the SACU region accounted for 69.2 per cent of the country’s imports, which was 4.5 percentage points lower than in Q4 of 2023. The country also imported less from the SSA region, while imports from Asia and the European Union (EU) increased during this period. Meanwhile, economic activity, gauged by the growth of quarterly gross domestic product (QGDP), depicted an increase of 7.0 per cent in the last quarter of 2023 compared to a revised growth of 6.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 (year-on-year change and seasonally adjusted). On a quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), economic activity growth softened increasing by 0.8 per cent compared to a quarter growth of 2.4 per cent registered in the third quarter of 2023.

In the period, the tertiary sector was the main driver of economic activity at the back of improved performance of ICT, ‘Financial services’, ‘Wholesale and retail’, and other services.
It was further reported that activity in the primary sector declined by 5.8 per cent in the quarter, owing to a slump in the growth of ‘agriculture and forestry’ activities, which declined significantly by 7.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2023.

Remains

Forestry activity continues to reflect strain as external demand in the key destination market (weak demand for structural timber in the SA market) remains erratic. On the other hand, the primary sector was uplifted by growth in the mining industry, with a stellar increase of 168.1 per cent. The secondary sector also contracted in the quarter under review, decelerating by 1.5 per cent. The decline was at the back of falling manufacturing activity, energy, and water supplies while construction activities upheld the sector’s growth, increasing by 6.9 per cent.
Construction activity was bolstered by the implementation of public and private sector projects, including the commencement of the Mpakeni dam. Similar to previous quarter developments, the services sector posted a robust growth of 11.9 per cent stimulated by activities under ICT, financial as well as wholesale and retail.