IS THE ECONOMIC CRISIS FINALLY OVER?

Sir,

Some people believe that the economy has improved a lot since the economic crises we experienced a short while ago.

Those who feel this way cited many reasons to support their stance such as the recent successful Swaziland International Trade Fair, which I understand attracted many exhibitors, local and foreign. Besides that some businesspeople from other countries showed interest in coming to operate in the country.

Government interpreted this economic stability as an opportunity to buy a fleet of cars for legislators or politicians, criticism for this move said it was an unnecessary form of extravagance or negligent spending. I am inclined to agree, because getting out of the woods does not mean you can still lose your way to find yourself trapped in a hopeless financial situation again.

There were also those who disputed this perceived growth and said the economy had not in fact improved?
They said our economy growth rate was still the lowest in the region.
They also noted that more investors were going out than those who were coming in, poor or low wages in Swaziland, rampant unemployment and lastly retrenchments.

Companies are letting employees go more than they are retaining them. This contributed to our unemployment rate and undoubtedly has an adverse effect on the growth of our economy via the human resource that contributes to it. Can we say our economy is improving when we recently lost AGOA because of the five benchmarks which no one is willing to address and consequently meet?

Maybe the economy has improved for a chosen few who are swimming in luxury but not for the man in the street or the masses.
Who spoke the truth? Has our economy improved? Is it happy times back again? We need to be careful of counting our chickens before they hatch.

Peter Sibeko, Luyengo

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