Mbabane: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development has predicted that the country’s economic growth will fall by 1.9 percent, compared to the baseline projection of 2.8 percent in the year ending April 1, 2021.
Economic Planning and Development Communications Officer Nokuthula Simelane said the relative optimistic scenario assumptions showed a mild prolonged period of outbreak of about 8 months with mild shut down anticipations due to labour supply disruptions. Simelane said an overall negative impact will be felt by all sectors, including the government and private sector. On the other hand, Simelane said pessimistic assumptions show a 12-month period of outbreak resulting in a -6.1 percent contraction for this calendar year from the baseline projection of 2.8 percent.
“The potential economic impact COVID-19 outbreak in the domestic economy will definitely be deeply felt due to the unpredictable rising cases of the coronavirus,” said Simelane in the analysis to assess the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Africa, on the other hand, has predicted that its GDP to contract by 2.5 percent in the year ending March 31, 2021, and will recover by 4.5 percent in 2021.
Had it not been the COVID-19 outbreak, Eswatini’s nominal GDP Per Capita was forecasted to be US$4,244.991 in Dec 2020 as reported by International Monetary Fund (IMF). It recorded an increase from the last reported number of US$4 176.746 in Dec 2019. Looking ahead the IMF saw Eswatini’s Nominal GDP Per Capita projection to stand at 4,782.512 USD in Dec 2024.
GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is considered to be a very important indicator of the economic strength of a country. A positive change is an indicator of economic growth. In 2017, the GDP per capita in Eswatini amounted to around 4,072.02 U.S. dollars.
The data is updated yearly and is categorized in CEIC under World Trend Plus’s Country Forecast.
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