SWAZI MELTDOWN ‘WON’T HIT S AFRICA’

South Africa would not suffer economically if Swaziland’s economy went bust, an economist has said.

Jean Francois Mercier said any impact would be minimal.

Mercier from Citi Investment Research and Analysis, a division of Citigroup Global Markets, told the Business Report newspaper in South Africa that the financial exposure of South African companies and banks to the Swazi economy was small. ‘SA Reserve Bank data up to the end of 2009 showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks into Swaziland were only R1.76bn (less than 0.1 percent of GDP and 1.5 percent of total outward FDI in the rest of Africa).’

He said in late 2009, South African banks’ Swazi assets were only worth R180m.

Swaziland is presently seeking a loan, believed to be about R1.2 billion, from South Africa to shore up its budget. Business Report said a delegation of trade unions and prodemocracy activists was in South Africa last week to lobby that a loan should only be granted on the condition of political reform in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.

To read the full Business Report article, click here.

See also

SOUTH AFRICA ‘READY TO GIVE LOAN’

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/07/south-africa-ready-to-give-loan.html

PRO-DEMOCRACY SETS NEWS AGENDA

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/07/pro-democracy-sets-news-agenda.html