Swazi Observer

FULL STORY

SACU RECEIPTS REBOUND BY E6.3 BILLION IN 2019/20

By Bahle Gama | 2019-11-24

Government revenue continue to be heavily affected by movements in SACU receipts.

Compared to the previous financial year, SACU receipts rebounded to E6.3 billion causing total revenue to grow by nearly 12 percent to E17.6 billion in 2019/20. Of this, non-SACU revenue grew by 14.2 per cent.

This is contained in the mid-year budget review statement presented by Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg in Parliament earlier this week.

He said that dependency on SACU receipts, from both cash and budgetary perspective is creating vulnerability in public finances and affecting long-term planning and focus should be on diversifying revenue sources.

“Whilst SACU receipts remain volatile and cause large swings in total revenue, domestic collection has been more stable.

Tax revenue (excluding SACU) accounts for 50 per cent of total revenue and grew by 11.2 per cent in 2019/20. Of tax revenue, PAYE is the largest single item and accounts for close to 20 per cent of total revenue,’ he said.

He further disclosed that government expenditure remains largely in line with the budget but continues to be pressured by over-expenditure and off-budget expenditure on particular items.

Total recurrent expenditure has been executed up to 48 per cent and the execution rate for locally funded capital projects stands at 41 per cent.

share story