BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – It is now confirmed that the Budget Speech will be delivered next week Friday.
The Budget Speech will be delivered in the House of Assembly. The announcement was made yesterday by House of Assembly Speaker Jabulani Mabuza. This was during the first sitting of the House of Assembly this year, which took place five days after His Majesty King Mswati III delivered his Speech from the Throne.
The Budget Speech is usually the second biggest activity in the calendar year of Parliament. It follows the State Opening of Parliament, where His Majesty King Mswati III gives directives to the legislators on what needs to be done in a given year. The King gives those directives according to the needs and aspirations of Emaswati.
The Budget Speech, which is delivered by a minister responsible for finance, follows on what the King has said. That is a time when Government presents its plans on how it is going to implement the directives of the King, using the available resources. The Budget Speech is usually delivered towards the end of February or the beginning of March every year.
Last year, Minister Rijkenberg presented a budget of E26.4 billion for the year 2023/2024. The budget highlighted significant increases in study loans, youth empowerment programmes, health, education and infrastructure development, among others. It also included a E30 million budget for the National Dialogue.
