Major fall in export revenue

MBABANE - In the past month, the country is said to have registered a lower trade surplus amounting to E202.7 million.

This was as a result of a16.5 per cent decline in export income. The import bill, on the other hand, decreased by a lower margin of 7.6 per cent month-on-month. This is as per the Recent Economic Developments (RED) report from released by the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) yesterday.

Income generated from exports amounted to E2.752 billion, depicting a notable yearon-year increase of 14.4 per cent. Goods purchased abroad were valued at E2.549 billion, depicting a year-on-year rise of 5.7 per cent. About 56.3 per cent of exports were destined for the South African market, while 73.1 per cent of imports were sourced from the same market.

“Preliminary figures indicate that the country generated export income amounting to E30.4 billion in 2021, depicting a rise of 7.4 per cent from the overall exports recorded in 2020, despite undergoing a notable period of political unrest in July 2020.

Rose

“The import bill on the other hand, rose significantly by 17.1 per cent, to settle at E28.6 billion in 2021, which means Eswatini registered a trade surplus amounting to E1.815 billion,” highlighted the report.

A closer look at major exports during the month of December 2021 indicated that income generated from the sale of softdrink concentrates declined marginally by 3.1 per cent to settle at E1.448 billion on a month-on-month basis, while decreasing by a wider 18.4 per cent on a year-on-year comparison.

Sugar and its products sold abroad were valued at E572.0 million, depicting a notable month-on-month drop of 18.8 per cent, despite rising by a significant 52.7 per cent on a yearon-year due to low base effects. Wood and its articles exported amounted to E132.1 million.