<\/p>\n
In a technical assistance report released by the IMF\u2019s Statistics Department, the Fund said the Central Bank of eSwatini (CBE) has made substantial progress in strengthening financial sector data collection. However, existing monetary and financial statistics do not yet fully reflect the structure of the country\u2019s financial system.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the report, non-bank financial institutions account for approximately 66.2% of total financial sector assets, excluding assets held by the central bank. Pension funds are the largest component of the sector, representing nearly 70% of assets within the other financial corporations category.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF said pension funds, insurance companies, credit providers and collective investment schemes play an increasingly important role in mobilising long-term savings and financing economic activity. Despite their growing significance, much of the sector\u2019s data has historically not been included in official monetary and financial statistics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To improve coverage, the IMF has supported the Central Bank of eSwatini in developing new reporting systems that incorporate pension funds, insurance corporations and non-deposit-taking credit providers into national financial statistics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the Fund, broader reporting will improve the quality of information available to policymakers and strengthen the monitoring of financial stability risks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The report also highlighted the growing importance of savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs), which account for nearly 8% of assets within the other depository corporations sector. Including SACCO data in official statistics provides a more comprehensive picture of deposit-taking activity and financial intermediation across the economy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While commercial banks remain important, the IMF noted that eSwatini\u2019s banking sector is relatively small compared with the broader financial system. Banks account for just under 28% of total financial sector assets, while the role of insurers, pension funds and other investment vehicles continues to expand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund recommended closer cooperation between the Central Bank of eSwatini and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority to enhance data sharing and improve reporting standards.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Additional recommendations include collecting more detailed information on financial sector balance sheets, improving reporting on currency composition and institutional exposures, and strengthening monitoring of pension fund liabilities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IMF also encouraged greater use of balance-sheet analysis to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to the report, these measures would help strengthen financial sector surveillance, improve risk assessment and support better-informed economic decisions as eSwatini\u2019s financial sector becomes increasingly diversified and complex.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Fund concluded that expanding the coverage of official financial statistics will provide authorities with a clearer understanding of the economy and improve the effectiveness of monetary and financial sector policymaking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–IMF\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":39333,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-39332","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"eSwatini\u2019s financial system is increasingly driven by pension funds, insurers and other non-bank financial institutions, prompting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to call for a significant expansion of the country\u2019s financial reporting framework to improve oversight and policymaking.","published_date":"","news_description":"eSwatini\u2019s financial system is increasingly driven by pension funds, insurers and other non-bank financial institutions, prompting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to call for a significant expansion of the country\u2019s financial reporting framework to improve oversight and policymaking.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39334,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/39332\/revisions\/39334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=39332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}