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MBABANE – Credit extended to Eswatini’s private sector continued to expand in September 2025, according to the latest monthly statistical release by the Central Bank of Eswatini.
Total credit increased by 2.1 per cent month-on-month and 8.9 per cent year-on-year, reaching E21.7 billion. The growth was supported across all subsectors, with the largest expansion recorded in credit to other sectors of the domestic economy.
Credit to these other sectors surged 14.9 per cent month-on-month and 8.1 per cent year-on-year to E1.1 billion, driven largely by a 28.9 per cent rise in lending to other financial corporations, which stood at E644.4 million. Meanwhile, credit to local government and parastatals saw modest increases of 1.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent, reaching E90.1 million and E402.2 million, respectively.
Businesses continued to benefit from credit growth, with total business lending rising to E11.6 billion, up 0.9 per cent month-on-month and 12.6 per cent year-on-year. Sectoral performance was uneven: Mining and quarrying saw the strongest growth at 47.0 per cent, followed by agriculture and forestry at 10.2 per cent and manufacturing at 4.8 per cent. However, credit contracted in several sectors, including community, social and personal services (–6.3 per cent), distribution and tourism (–4.7 per cent), transport and communications (–3.5 per cent), real estate (–1.6 per cent) and construction (–0.6 per cent).
A closer look at business size reveals mixed trends. Credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) rose 9.5 per cent to E3.9 billion, increasing their share of total business credit to 33.6 per cent. Conversely, lending to large enterprises fell 3.0 per cent to E7.7 billion, reducing their share to 66.4 per cent.
Household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) credit also grew, climbing 2.2 per cent month-on-month and 4.5 per cent year-on-year to E9.0 billion. Other personal (unsecured) loans and motor vehicle loans drove the growth, rising 5.8 per cent to E3.4 billion and 0.8 per cent to E1.3 billion, respectively. Mortgage loans dipped marginally by 0.1 per cent to E4.2 billion but remained the largest component of household credit at 47.0 per cent, followed by unsecured loans at 38.3 per cent and motor vehicle loans at 14.6 per cent.
The CBE further reported that government’s net claims with the banking sector jumped sharply from E929.1 million in August to E1.6 billion in September, representing a 72.0 per cent month-on-month increase, though they declined 7.1 per cent year-on-year. The increase was largely due to higher claims on government, which rose 9.1 per cent to E8.2 billion, reflecting greater utilisation of the Central Bank credit facility. Government deposits, in contrast, saw a modest rise of 0.2 per cent to E6.6 billion.
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Credit extended to Eswatini’s private sector continued to expand in September 2025, according to the latest monthly statistical release by the Central Bank of Eswatini.