Capital flows survey to assist in realistic economic assessments

THE 2010 Foreign Private Capital Survey is expected to assist in the realistic assessment of economic fundamentals, development of sound policies and guide the country’s investment promotion efforts.
The survey is the result of collaboration between the Central Bank of Swaziland (CBS), Central Statistical Office (CSO) and Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA).
“As a Central Bank, we have since inception been tasked with monitoring economic development in the country through the collection of important economic statistics,” said Governor Martin Dlamini during the launch of the survey at a breakfast meeting held yesterday at the Happy Valley Resort and Casino.
“With the global economy rapidly changing, the need to produce more and reliable information cannot be over-emphasised. Our commitment to have a better understanding of external activities and flows of capital across our borders will underpin effective economic policy making decisions.”
Survey
Dlamini said the emphasis of the survey was to improve the country’s balance of payments statistics through reaching out to key stakeholders in the private sector. He said international and national data showed that private capital flows had become increasingly important globally and to Swaziland in particular, given the increasing size of these transactions relative to that of the economy.
He said even though the Central Bank was intensifying its efforts to monitor these flows for balance of payment purposes, there was need to strengthen the data base so that the scale, type and economic effects of the flows can be better understood and policies to deal with or promote flows can be more effectively designed.
Quality data
The governor said the importance of securing high quality data to better inform policy decisions was highlighted during the financial crisis. “The balance of payments and international investment position survey we’re about to embark on is, therefore, intended to collect information on the flow of private capital, stocks and related income variables among entities in Swaziland, which have significant foreign financial assets and liabilities.”
He said this information would be used as an important tool in understanding the nation’s relationship with the rest of the world and to monitor flows of capital between Swaziland and the rest of the world.
Adding, he said the survey would also capture information on investor perceptions regarding the investment climate in the country, which would hopefully guide its investment promotion efforts.
“Providing timely, reliable and comprehensive data is essential for sound economic policy making,” said the governor. “This will foster government efforts to eradicate poverty in Swaziland. The data will improve data availability and transparency and allow market participants in making realistic assessments of economic fundamentals.”
Dlamini said this was especially important at this time because private sector activity in Swaziland had grown considerably in recent years. As a result, he added, data on foreign direct investment (FDI) and other capital flows was likely to grow in importance in the formulation of macroeconomic policies.

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