Swaziland’s economy is in
disarray and the kingdom continues to fail to raise enough money to pay for its
spending, the national budget reveals.
All government job recruiting
will be frozen, Value
Added Tax will go up by 1 percent
to 15 percent and there is a plan to try to impose VAT on electricity tariffs
for the first time.
Pensions for people aged 60
and over will be frozen, but E5.5
million is earmarked to buy the
Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini a retirement home. E1.5 billion will be spent on a conference centre and five-star hotel to house an African Union summit.
Local pension and insurance
companies are to be compelled to invest at least 50 percent of their funds
within Swaziland.
Swazi Finance Minister
Martin Dlamini delivered a catalogue of woes during his budget speech on 1 March 2018. He said he took his lead when constructing the
budget from King Mswati III who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa’s last
absolute monarch. Dlamini was not elected to parliament and along with the
Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and top public servants was appointed by the
King.
In his
speech opening Parliament in
February 2018 Dlamini said the King commanded his government, ‘to prepare a
budget that is based on available resources’. Dlamini said, ‘Government has
conducted a thorough analysis of our expenditure in order to prioritise only
the most pressing concerns.’
He told Parliament, ‘The
public sector has grown at a much faster pace over the years creating
significant dependency in the economy and compromising growth and employment
creation. This has led to the large size of government, increased the wage bill
significantly, and limited the space for social and infrastructure spending.’
He added, ‘Government
spending continues to outpace its ability to raise enough revenues resulting in
cash flow challenges and accumulation of arrears.’
He said the Government owed
E3.1 billion to its suppliers for goods and services and it was trying to find ways
to find money to repay these debts.
Dlamini added, ‘In recent
years, Government has not been able to raise enough revenues to cover the ever increasing
expenditures, which is a clear indication that the current Government model
cannot be sustained in the medium-term.’ He announced a freeze on all
government recruiting.
He reported the economy in
Swaziland was projected to have grown by 1.9 percent in 2017 from 1.4 percent
in 2016. Crop production which had been hit by drought grew by 17.2 percent in
2017, but livestock production was ‘significantly reduced due to the drought’.
He said, ‘There has been a
decline in the construction sector as implementation of various construction
projects slowed largely due to the current fiscal challenges’
Economic performance in
2018 was anticipated to grow by 1.3 percent.
Inflation continues to
grow. In 2016 consumer prices grew by 7.8 percent. They increased a further 6.2
percent in 2017.
The cost of food for a
kingdom where seven in ten of the estimated 1.1 million population have incomes
of less than the equivalent of US$2 per day rose 19 percent in 2016 and a
further 2.6 percent in 2017. The slowdown in price increases was put down to improved
weather conditions for agricultural production after the drought.
Transport costs rose 9.6
percent in 2016 and a further 3.9 percent in 2017. Communication costs (mainly
phones) rose 4.7 percent in 2016 and by a further 0.4 percent in 2017.
The Finance Minister
reported that Swaziland’s ‘current account’ had a surplus of E8.6 billion in
2017, but this was down from E9.5 billion in 2016. Export earnings fell by 1.3
percent in 2017 to E24.1 billion. Foreign Direct Investment declined over the year.
He announced that the
government would compel local pension fund and insurance institutions to invest
50 percent of their holdings within Swaziland. At present that figure is 30
percent. He said government would also reduce the amount of retirement funds
and insurance assets that can be held as cash, ‘in order to encourage
retirement funds and insurance companies to invest in the domestic economy’.
Swaziland’s official
currency reserves fell by 7.8 percent in 2017 to E7.6 billion. ‘This
development was mainly due to inadequate Government revenue to cover public
expenses,’ Finance Minister Dlamini said.
Swaziland has been given a
B2 rating (on a scale from A – C) with a ‘negative outlook’ by international
credit rating agency Moody’s, he said. The poor rating is ‘due to the financial
and economic pressures we continue to face’, he added.
The year ahead in Swaziland
is bleak. In line with the King’s command, Dlamini said, government would spend
only on the ‘most critical’ items. He said, ‘In managing the
financing, the gap, Government aims to do the following: a. Monitoring and
controlling all commitments including those of Ministries that had been
previously ring-fenced to avoid unnecessary and wasteful expenditure with the
aim to prioritise critical expenditure; b. Prioritising payment arrears and
aligning them to cash available. c. Continue exploring the possibility for
other sources of funding including but not limited to utilising excess balances
on Government special accounts.’
The kingdom is in debt. He
said, ‘As of December 2017, total debt stock stood at E11.51 billion, which is
an equivalent of 19.29 per cent of GDP. Of this stock, external debt is at
E4.35 billion, whilst domestic is E7.15 billion.’
Government has taken out
loan agreements with among others; EXIM Bank – China, the Kuwait Fund for
Development, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Arab Bank for Economic
Development (BADEA), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). The
loan agreements are for the following approved projects; National Referral
Hospital, Five Star Hotel, LUSIP II, Lukhula-Big Bend Road and Lukhula-Siteki
Road.
He said, ‘The livelihood of
our people continues to be Government’s priority, with the agriculture sector
playing such a large role in the economy’. He allocated E1.4 billion to the
Department of Agriculture which is less than the E1.5 billion to be spent on a
convention centre and hotel at Ezulwini.
He said the total
expenditure for financial year 2018/19 was estimated at E21.6 billion, a
reduction of 1 percent on the previous year. He added, ‘I am pleased to announce that
Government has been able to deliver on His Majesty’s directive from the Throne
regarding a realistic budget. Government has conducted a thorough analysis of
our expenditure in order to prioritise only the most pressing concerns.’
As is customary, he did not
announce how much of the annual budget would go to King Mswati for his upkeep
and that of his Royal Family. The King has at least 13 palaces, fleets of
top-of-the range BMW and Mercedes cars and at least one Rolls Royce. He has a
private jet airplane and is due to take delivery of another during 2018.
The 2017 budget
increased spending
on the Swaziland Royal Household by E200 million to E1.3
billion.
See also
MPS SEND BUDGET BACK FOR REVIEW
HOSTILE REACTION TO VAT INCREASE
BUILDING
HOTEL A BUDGET PRIORITY
CABINET
DEFIES KING OVER BUDGET
SWAZI
BUDGET GIVES PM NEW HOUSE
http://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/swazi-budget-gives-pm-new-house.html
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