Mbabane: Minister of Economic Planning and Development Prince Hlangusemphi yesterday launched the first ever Swaziland Economic Census at Sibane Hotel. The prince said this activity did not come as a surprise but would be one enshrined in the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) which was being put in place. He said the undertaking of the census marked the beginning of a long journey towards improving economic statistics in the country.
“The United Nations (UN) has recommended that this activity be carried out at least once in every five years, however, developed countries have managed to reduce this interval to less than three years. The economic census is a full instrument of the state of the economy. It is the total process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analysing and publishing economic data at a specific time, from all businesses and social as well as business activities in the economy. It ultimately forms a basis for all economic surveys in an economy. The current set of indicators need to be updated to reflect the current structure of the economy,” he said.
The minister said the objectives of the study would be to provide data on the economy so as to enhance the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of socio-economic policies in the country. It would also provide monetary measure of all goods and services in Swaziland’s economy.
He said the country needed to clearly identify which sectors are major contributors to growth as outlined in the Economic Recovery Strategy. The prince said Swaziland needed to enhance production in sectors which it has comparative advantages on. He said this would increase efficiencies and lead to increased national incomes.
The national census would help identify the micro-enteprises which also have a role to play in the economic recovery. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has engaged temporal staff to assist in conducting the first phase, which is listing of all enteprises. The minister said the staff would be dispatched all over the country to collect information from businesses.
“We urge all businesses to cooperate and provide requested information. The purpose of the listing is to provide details pertaining to establishments. Businesses are requested to demand a letter from the staff before providing any information. The success of the economic census requires the cooperation of all businesses. Accurate information will lead to meaningful statistics,” he said.
…census will result in a business register
THE Swaziland Economic Census 2011/12 will culminate to a business register which will have information on enterprises. Minister Prince Hlangusemphi said the register would have the enteprises’ classification, economic and stratification characteristics, control and ownership of units and links with other registers. He said this would also enhance a sampling frame for economic surveys.
The prince said the census would be rolled-out in two phases, the first being the listing of all enteprises and the second is where businesses would be asked to provide detailed financial information regarding their operations. He said the success of the economic census would yield results that would shape up the economic development of the country.
