Mbabane – The Central Bank of Eswatini has reported continued growth in private sector credit and money supply, alongside a sharp drop in official reserves, according to its Monthly Statistical Release for November and December 2025.
The report shows that credit extended to the private sector reached E21.9 billion in November 2025, rising by 1.1 per cent from October and by 8.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. The expansion was recorded across businesses, households, non profit institutions serving households, and other domestic sectors, reflecting sustained borrowing activity within the economy.
Credit to businesses increased to E11.6 billion, growing by 1.4 per cent month on month and 11.8 per cent year on year. The rise was driven mainly by agriculture and forestry, manufacturing, real estate, transport and communication, and construction. These gains were partly offset by reduced lending to mining and quarrying, community social and personal services, and distribution and tourism.
A closer look at business lending shows that large enterprises continued to attract most of the financing. Credit to large firms rose by 2.9 per cent to E7.9 billion, while lending to small and medium enterprises declined by 1.8 per cent to E3.6 billion. As a result, the share of total business credit held by large enterprises increased to 68.6 per cent in November from 67.6 per cent in October, while the SME share fell to 31.4 per cent.
Households and non profit institutions serving households accounted for E9.1 billion in credit, following a 0.8 per cent increase from the previous month and a 5.2 per cent rise over the year. Growth was largely driven by motor vehicle loans, which climbed to E1.4 billion, and other unsecured personal loans, which rose to E3.6 billion. Mortgage lending declined slightly to E4.2 billion, though it remained the largest component of household credit at 46.2 per cent.
Credit to other domestic sectors stood at E1.2 billion in November, increasing by 1.4 per cent month on month and 4.6 per cent year on year. Lending to other financial corporations rose to E666.2 million, while credit to local government and parastatal corporations declined.
The banking sector’s position with government improved during the period under review. Net claims on government fell sharply to E442.3 million in November, reflecting a strong accumulation of government deposits, which rose by 29.2 per cent to E8.0 billion. Claims on government increased at a slower pace to E8.4 billion.
Broad money supply, measured as M2, rose to E30.7 billion in November from E28.8 billion in October. This represented a 6.5 per cent monthly increase and a 16.3 per cent annual rise, in line with the expansion in private sector credit. Quasi money grew to E20.0 billion, supported by higher time and savings deposits, while narrow money increased to E10.7 billion due to growth in currency outside banks and demand deposits.
Liquidity conditions in the banking sector strengthened further, with domestic liquid assets rising to E12.5 billion in November, a 7.2 per cent monthly increase and 24.0 per cent growth over the year. Despite the improvement, the liquidity ratio remained unchanged at 42.3 per cent. The discount rate stood at 6.75 per cent in December, while the prime lending rate was recorded at 10.25 per cent.
On the external front, provisional gross official reserves fell sharply to E11.4 billion in December 2025, reflecting a 26.2 per cent decline from November, though still 12.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. The reduction was partly attributed to net foreign currency outflows linked to transactions with commercial banks. As a result, the country’s import cover weakened from 3.6 months in November to 2.7 months in December. In special drawing rights terms, reserves declined to SDR481.0 million.
The Central Bank noted that all figures remain provisional and subject to revision as part of its ongoing monthly and quarterly review processes.
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