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CORPORATE TAX REDUCTION WON’T HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON - MP

By Qondile Ntiwane | 2020-02-23

Lobamba Lomdzala Member of Parliament (MP) Marwick Khumalo believes the reduction of corporate tax is not something that will happen soon.

Government, through the ministry of finance, intends slashing corporate tax from 27.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent, a move aimed at improving the ease of doing business in the country.

Making his submissions during the post- budget seminar hosted by the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) at the Happy Valley Hotel and Resort yesterday, the MP said he could tell how the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg was passionate about the corporate tax issue but urged him to take it easy.

“I can see the minister is very passionate with this issue but with Cabinet, but I don’t see it pass even this year,” he said.

Khumalo, who is also Chairman of the Finance Committee in the House of Assembly, added that the country’s expenditure was worrying.

“We are getting SACU receipts but our expenditure is still not going down. But coming to this we all know the problem and it needs to be tackled soon,” he said.

The MP said it was a concern that Eswatini was described as a high risk destination for investment.

“This is very bad for the country, especially with the current state of our economy. With this one we must address the political question.”

The MP further described the alliance between government and the Central Bank as unholy.

“I am not happy with the relationship between government and the CBE, especially when it comes to loans. Maybe we need to go back to Section 204(6) of our Constitution and see what it says about this issue,” he said.

In response to this, the minister explained that they were aware of the clause and were still within its confines. “We are allowed to access about 20 per cent of the debt and so far we haven’t borrowed outside to what we are allowed,” he said.

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