… Management says government should pay debts, not spend money
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Congratulations are pouring into Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg’s office.
Following the revelation that Eswatini will receive E11.75 billion Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts for the year 2023/2024, congratulations have been pouring into the Ministry of Finance.
Business Eswatini (BE) Management sent out a statement, congratulating the Minister of Finance on achieving a record-breaking feat.
“Arguably, this is the highest SACU windfall this country has ever received and it is, in large part, due to the minister’s tireless efforts. The increase in SACU receipts could not have come at a better time. It is therefore good news for the country and especially our fiscus which definitely needed an injection of this magnitude.
“We should not forget that SACU receipts are not just a gift to the country from the customs union as most people seem to believe. This money is actually a function of trade that takes place within the union, mostly by BE members. It is as a result of the many trucks that criss-cross our borders as they source raw materials as well as conduct business within the union,” read the statement.
BE Management went on to say in reality most, if not all, of these players were BE members and BE was on record having encouraged them, many a time, for them to make every attempt to confine their business dealings within the customs union.
“With that in mind, we hope the good Minister Neal would not mind sharing his well-deserved accolades with our members. BE will continue to support the government in its regional trade facilitation effort as the benefits of doing so are there for everyone to see. We have been and will continue to encourage our members to look at SACU as one market. We also hope that our government will continue to explore opportunities to make it easier for the traders to trade within SACU and even go further as to provide incentives to do so, if practicable.”
BE Management further cautioned the government, saying they must remember that one’s needs would always rise to meet one’s income and it was a terrible phenomenon.
‘We, therefore, plead with them not to fall into this temptation and find themselves spending the money recklessly. As BE we would advise that they spend the whole windfall on paying their debts,” they said. The Minister of Finance this morning revealed that the country’s SACU receipts had increased by 102 percent in 2023/2024 from E5.8 billion to E11.75 billion.
