Rwanda’s economy remained resilient in the 2022-2023 fiscal year despite the global economic slowdown, the National Bank of Rwanda said in its latest report. The central bank’s report for 2022-2023, presented to parliament Monday in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, said that the economic resilience primarily stemmed from a robust performance in the services sector. “Despite facing various economic challenges such as a global demand slowdown, rising inflation and climate shocks, Rwanda’s economy remained resilient, with real GDP growing by 8.1 percent during 2022-2023, slightly lower than the 8.9 percent achieved in the previous year,” the report said. It noted that Rwanda’s external trade continued its recovery path, witnessing a 29.8 percent increase in merchandise exports. This growth was attributed to the strong performance of domestic manufacturing exports and traditional commodities. The financial year 2022-23 posed challenges for Rwandans due to high and persistent inflationary pressures and weather-related issues, which adversely affected the country’s agricultural production, read the report. “These combined challenges increased inflation from 4.6 percent in fiscal year 2021-2022 to 18.2 percent in fiscal year 2022-2023,” it noted. Furthermore, the report indicated that the country’s financial sector maintained sufficient capital and liquidity, with regulated institutions consistently holding capital above the required levels. Banks sustained an aggregate total capital adequacy ratio of 21.1 percent as of June 2023, surpassing the regulatory minimum of 15 percent, according to the report. The report, however, said that Rwanda’s total trade deficit increased 29.7 percent, creating additional pressure on the local currency. — Xinhua Eleven people died in an accident at a South African platinum mine on Monday when the lift fell as it was lifting workers at the end of their day, the company that owns the mine, Impala Platinum, said yesterday. “Eighty-six employees were standing in the lift, eleven lost their lives and all the others were […] Israel’s war on Hamas will cost the country $53 billion and hamper economic growth into 2024, according to figures published by the Bank of Israel on Monday. Fighting has been paused since a truce came into effect on Friday, but the Israeli military is expected to resume operations in Gaza this week. Direct military spending […] President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed the need to strengthen foreign-related legal system development, as he chaired a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. President Xi highlighted the need to create law-based governance conditions and a favourable external environment […]