… 53 415 jobs were created
BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini has said the 2018-2023 term was ‘a bitter-sweet experience for Cabinet.
The Prime Minister was speaking when delivering his End-of-Term statement to the media at Cabinet Offices in the late afternoon yesterday.
Dlamini highlighted some of the bitter experiences as the passing away of Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini and three other Cabinet Ministers, the loss of emaSwati to COVID-19, the June/July 2021 social unrest and the socio-economic impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Even though we have reason to celebrate the many milestones that we achieved as a country during this period, we are also aware of the many challenges that confronted us. I dare say though, that the successes far outweigh the challenges, ” he said.
In addition, he said due to some of the challenges, the Government had to take austerity measures in a bid to streamline Government spending to be within the limited financial resources, amongst which was the hiring freeze of 2018.
Through Circular No.3 of 2018, the Government successfully prevented the wage bill from spiralling and maintained it at manageable levels.
“Government undertook to create at least 10 000 jobs per annum and to make Eswatini an export-driven economy. The Prime Minister was pleased to report that this target was surpassed, as 53 415 jobs were created, 6 410 of which came from Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), 5 341 from expansions and 41 664 from Domestic Direct investments.
