Plain MoneyUmnotfo Ebantfwini

Latest edition · № 11 · 23 August 2026

Borrowing with purpose

Households now owe almost as much through unsecured loans as on housing. What we borrow for has been quietly changing shape for a decade.

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Sharp blade: The structural shift in household credit Housing, motor vehicle and unsecured personal loans as a share of household credit, July 2013 – June 2026 Source: Central Bank of Eswatini monthly statistical releases — Unpublished months omitted; figures rounded. Plain Money / Mlungisi Ndwandwe 20% 40% 60% 0% Jul-13 Sep-15 Dec-17 Jul-19 Dec-20 Jun-22 Jun-23 Jun-24 Jun-26 Pandemic acceleration Housing loans 43% Unsecured loans 41% Motor vehicle loans 15%
The lines almost touch: housing and unsecured credit as shares of what households owe.Chart · Plain Money / CBE monthly statistical releases

The editions

12 published · continues every Sunday
Line chart of revenue and grants versus total expenditure as shares of GDP, FY10/11 to FY28/29. Spending climbs to a budgeted 40 per cent while revenue reaches 29.4 per cent; the shaded gap between the lines is the deficit.

№ 10 · Part II16 Aug 2026

Does Eswatini have a debt problem?

The concluding instalment — the interest bill, the repayment calendar and how much room to breathe is left.

The ratio fell. The debt did not. Index, March 2024 = 100 Source: CBE Annual Economic Review 2024/25 Plain Money / Mlungisi Ndwandwe 85 90 95 105 110 100 Mar-24 Jul-24 Nov-24 Mar-25 GDP rebased Debt stock 105 Debt-to-GDP ratio 96

№ 10 · Part I9 Aug 2026

Does Eswatini have a debt problem?

At around 40 per cent of GDP the number looks safe. The number is not the risk.

A woman rests her hand on a large corrugated water tank at a homestead, a bucket beneath its tap, dry hills beyond.

№ 092 Aug 2026

Two point six months

The kingdom is carrying 2.6 months of import cover. Most of us are running a smaller version of the same balance sheet.

A man and a boy lay stones on a homestead wall at sunset, a tin savings can resting on the stones.

№ 0826 Jul 2026

We are the fortress

Do not wait for Parliament to establish a sovereign wealth fund before establishing your own.

The Central Bank of Eswatini headquarters in Mbabane, ringed by green hills, a fuel station in the foreground.

№ 0719 Jul 2026

Margin for error shrinking

Financial crises rarely announce themselves. The Central Bank’s latest numbers are whispering — borrowing up, savings down, the cushion thinning.

A man signs a stop order at a kitchen table in warm evening light, his family in the kitchen behind him.

№ 0612 Jul 2026

Create your own luck

The people who always seem lucky with money decided long ago not to leave their future to chance. They designed it.

At a wholesale depot, a shopkeeper hands banknotes to a supplier beside a truck loaded with stock.

№ 055 Jul 2026

Pay what you owe

Some of the most expensive loans we ever take carry no paperwork — the unpaid supplier, the delayed payment, the promise not kept.

A family of four pauses outside a bright furniture showroom at dusk, a ‘buy now, pay later’ sign hanging on the glass.

№ 0428 Jun 2026

Think twice before you borrow

In an economy with a thinning financial cushion, the wisest borrowing decisions are the deliberate ones — made before the money is spent.

№ 3Let’s plan for Dvuladvula

№ 0321 Jun 2026

Let’s plan for Dvuladvula

Next month’s back pay is a rare opportunity to strengthen the household balance sheet — if the lump sum is guided by a plan rather than impulse.

A woman and child near a bank ATM while a queue of shoppers waits outside a mall, in sepia pen-and-ink

№ 0214 Jun 2026

Money habits keeping us broke

Financial outcomes are shaped less by income than by habits learned long before the first salary.

The Central Bank of Eswatini headquarters rising above Mbabane, with a fuel station and homes below

№ 017 Jun 2026

Let’s talk about money

Why the Central Bank’s rate decision matters far beyond economists — and what it means for the cost of living.

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