Economic prospects endangered by unrest

Industrial and political unrest could hamper Swaziland's long-term economic prospects, Swazi business leaders were quoted by AFP as saying on Friday. They said they feared Swaziland could find it hard to woo back investors whose confidence was rattled by a series of strikes and anti-government protests and the threat of US trade sanctions during the second half of last year.

"Preliminary indications are that we met our growth targets last year but the longer-term picture is less certain," Swaziland chamber of commerce and industry executive director Sibusiso Sibandze said. "While we may have metour macro-economic targets, the figures are quite misleading. For example, investment flows were badly hit by the unrest during the year, but that is
not reflected in the figures," Sibandze said. Several major investors suspended their investment plans after the United States threatened to expel Swaziland from a key trade pact for developing countries in mid-2000 over industrial relation concerns.