The Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) Governor Dr Phil Mnisi has announced the bank’s decision to maintain the benchmark discount rate at 6.75%.
This monetary policy stance signals the central bank’s ongoing commitment to balancing economic growth while keeping a cautious eye on brewing inflationary pressures.
For local businesses and individual consumers, the immediate impact of the CBE’s decision is a welcome pause in shifting borrowing costs. Commercial banks across Eswatini are expected to maintain the prime lending rate at 10.25%until the next Monetary Policy Consultative Committee meeting.
This stability offers predictability for debt servicing, allowing enterprises to manage overhead costs and households to budget effectively without the immediate threat of increased monthly loan repayments.
While interest rates remain locked, the broader cost of living is showing subtle signs of acceleration. The central bank highlighted a shift in the country’s inflation trajectory. Dr Mnisi noted that headline inflation increased to 2.0% in April 2026, up from the 1.6% recorded in March.
In response to these shifting price dynamics, the CBE marginally raised its full-year inflation forecast for 2026 to 3.31%, a step up from the 3.27% projected just a month prior.
According to the Governor, the central bank anticipates that the cost of consumer goods and services will continue to rise at a moderate pace through the remainder of the year.
The decision to hold the discount rate also arrives alongside fresh economic output data. According to the central bank’s indicators, Eswatini’s economy maintains a healthy expansion path, though it has lost a fraction of its prior momentum.
Domestic economic activity, as measured by the Quarterly Gross Domestic Product, grew by 5.7 percent year-on-year on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter of 2025. This represents a slight deceleration from the revised 5.9 percent expansion recorded in the third quarter of 2025.
This minor cool-off demonstrates that while domestic productivity remains fundamentally robust, shifting macroeconomic crosscurrents require a measured and stable monetary environment rather than aggressive policy interventions.