Most of us do not grow up talking openly about money. We talk about school. Jobs. Marriage. Success. But money itself, what we earn, what we owe, how we spend, save or try to grow what we have, often remains strangely private for something that shapes almost every part of our lives.
Part of that silence is stigma. Part of it is fear. Part of it is the social pressure to constantly prove that we are economically surviving, coping or succeeding, even when we are struggling financially.
Yet whether we understand money or not, it still determines many of the decisions, pressures and possibilities in our lives. The more financially aware we become, the less vulnerable we are to being exploited or making costly financial mistakes that could have been avoided.
And that is precisely why last week’s Monetary Policy Statement by the Central Bank of Eswatini’s Monetary Policy Consultative Committee matters far beyond economists, bankers and financial analysts.
At first glance, the announcement appeared relatively straightforward. The Central Bank maintained the discount rate at 6.75 per cent, meaning commercial banks are expected to keep the prime lending rate at around 10.25 per cent for now.
Beneath the percentages and technical language however, sat a much more important message.
The Bank is worried about where the global economy may be heading and what that could eventually mean for households and businesses. It pointed to uncertainty linked to the Middle East conflict, global oil prices and inflationary pressure building internationally. It also revised inflation forecasts upwards for both 2026 and 2027.
That concern is real and we are already living inside parts of it.
Fuel prices have increased sharply. Transport operators are paying more to stay on the road. Businesses are spending more moving goods across borders and within the country. Suppliers are adjusting prices. Households are beginning to absorb the pressure through groceries, school transport, electricity and other everyday costs.
The cost of living rarely rises all at once. It rises quietly, then everywhere. The Central Bank as a result, finds itself trying to manage two risks at the same time. If it increases interest rates too aggressively, borrowing becomes more expensive almost immediately. Monthly repayments rise. Businesses delay expansion. Consumers spend less money. Economic activity slows. Some companies begin cutting costs and eventually, jobs.
At the same time, if rates remain too low while global inflation pressures continue building, the cost of living can accelerate even further. Savings lose value. Debt becomes more dangerous. Households begin falling behind financially while still earning the same income.
That is the balancing act sitting underneath last week’s statement.
The Bank effectively decided that, for now, the risk of placing additional strain on households and businesses outweighed the need for an immediate rate increase, particularly at a time when both consumers and businesses are already showing signs of financial strain across key sectors of the economy.
That decision may not sound dramatic, but its significance becomes clearer when one considers the alternative. South Africa recently increased its own repo rate after inflation accelerated largely because of rising energy costs and, because the kingdom’s financial system remains closely tied to South Africa’s, similar pressure often begins building locally when monetary conditions tighten regionally.
In other words, while rates remained unchanged this month, the possibility of future increases has clearly not disappeared.
That matters enormously. While you may try to survive a fuel increase on its own or may absorb a slightly more expensive grocery basket for a month or two, the issue with modern financial pressure is that it rarely arrives one problem at a time.
Fuel rises. Transport rises. Groceries rise. Electricity rises. Then interest rates rise too, and that is where the danger begins, because it is often at that point that households start relying more heavily on short-term debt simply to survive normal monthly life. Once debt begins financing survival instead of productivity, financial pressure compounds quickly.
That tension also reveals an important subtlety in the Central Bank’s policy manoeuvre. Much of the inflationary pressure currently building is not necessarily being driven by reckless consumer spending, but by rising input and operational costs across the economy. Raising interest rates too aggressively under such conditions risks placing households and businesses under double pressure at a time when they are already struggling with rising living and operating costs.
That is usually how financial distress begins. Not because people are irresponsible per se, but because too many pressures arrive at once. Which is why this economic moment requires caution and discipline.
For individuals, one of the most important financial questions we can ask ourselves right now is painfully simple: “If my costs rise again three months from now, does my current lifestyle still survive?”
If you are already carrying debt, difficult decisions need to be made. Reducing unnecessary monthly obligations, avoiding impulsive purchases and protecting even small emergency savings may matter more over the coming months.
For SMEs, the pressure may become even more severe.
Most small businesses do not collapse because of one catastrophic event. They are slowly squeezed. Fuel rises. Suppliers increase prices. Customers become more cautious with spending. Transport becomes more expensive. Cash flow tightens month by month and eventually, survival itself becomes the strategy.
Many SMEs often make the mistake of responding emotionally during uncertain periods. They expand too aggressively, overborrow while rates remain relatively stable or mistake temporary revenue for long-term financial strength.
But, this is precisely the period that demands restraint. It is the time to reduce unnecessary operational costs, monitor cash flow closely and avoid debt that depends on perfect future conditions to survive as that is partly what the Central Bank is worried about too.
The statement was not only about inflation. It was about fragility and perhaps that is the most important thing we should take from last week’s statement: the price of money, as expensive as it already is, could become even more expensive in the near term because what happens in the Strait of Hormuz eventually finds its way to the kitchen table.
Financial pressure rarely arrives dramatically enough for us to prepare once it begins. It accumulates quietly and by the time many people fully recognise the pressure, it is already sitting inside the monthly budget.
Which circles us back to the importance of this column. Not because all of us must become economists, but because money already shapes some of the most important decisions we make, from the price of bread to the cost of purchasing a home, whether we speak about it openly or not.
The hope, therefore, is that this column becomes part of building a culture in which we finally become comfortable enough to talk honestly about money and develop the financial intuition to use it more wisely, deliberately and effectively in our everyday lives.