…As Eswatini’s economic growth surpasses regional average, Emaswati to benefit.
BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
LOBAMBA – Eswatini had record-high revenue receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) in the past fiscal year.
This was revealed by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg when delivering his fifth National Budget Speech at the House of Assembly in Lobamba today. The Minister themed the 2023 National Budget as ‘First Fruits’.
“Mister Speaker, four years ago, I stood before this honourable house and presented a vision from our National Strategic Plan for an economic turnaround, which aimed to balance the budget, raise revenue, and increase funding for infrastructure and service delivery. This plan was based on the following five pillars; fiscal consolidation and deficit funding strategy, a private sector-led improvement to the ease of doing business, improved socio-economic impact, infrastructure investment, and developing a culture of excellence. This version laid the foundation for the subsequent budget themes of; green shoots, fixing the foundations, and transformation through economic sustainability,” prefaced Minister Rijkenberg.
“It is my pleasure, Mister Speaker, to announce that the theme for this budget is ‘First Fruits’. The incredible work of this administration is now beginning to yield the results, and macro benefits and our fiscal position is stabilizing and improving,” noted Minister Rijkenberg.
“Mister Speaker, I’m incredibly proud to announce record-high Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts for 2023-2024 and to present both a record and a fully-funded budget to this August House. Mister Speaker, the real achievement is the fact that this budget puts us on a sustainable path. The fiscal deficit is the difference between the revenue that a country earns and its expenditure, which is usually covered by loans. In 2020-2021 our fiscal deficit was 3.6%. In 2021-2022 it increased to 6.5%. In 2022-2023 reduced it to 4.9% this has been a very tough task and I specially thanked Parliament for their assistance in this regard. The budget I am presenting today has a fiscal deficit of 2.2% of GDP,” revealed the Minister of Finance.
“This means, Mister Speaker, that even though our debt is still slightly increasing but if our GDP continues to grow with a minimum of 2.2% then our debt-to-GDP ratio remains the same. There are a few other factors at play in this calculation, but the way I explained it is generally the case. All indications are that our GDP will grow even more than 2.2% in 2023-2024 which will then have the effect of reducing our debt-to-GDP ratio,” noted the Minister of Finance.
Minister Rijkenberg went on to outline how these Economic gains will be translated into improvements in the daily livelihoods of Emaswati.
“Despite these achievements, many Emaswati may not be seeing or experiencing these benefits in their daily lives and may not be receiving the social and economic dividends. The budget begins to address this by ensuring that all Emaswati receive better service delivery,” said Minister Rijkenberg. The 2023 National Budget Speech and deliberations on the 2023 National Budget Estimates are currently ongoing at the House of Assembly.
