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By SIFISO NHLABATSI | 2024-11-15
ABOUT E7 billion was collected as domestic revenue collection at half year, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg has said when delivering the mid-term budget review report 2024/25.
The E7 billion was E1.3 million more than the 2023/24 collection of E5.7 billion. The minister said domestic revenue collected at half year reflected 46 per cent collection of the projected domestic revenue of E15 billion.
He said grants received at half year amounted to E156 million compared to the year 2023/24 which was 94 million. At half year 2024/25 total revenue and grants stood at E13.17 billion compared to E10.95 billion in 2023/24. The increase was mainly due to the improved receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
Rijkenberg said the report gave an update on fiscal and economic developments during the first six months of the year, progress on the implementation of the 2024/25 national budget and lay-out a summarised outlook of the medium-term.
The minister said the budget was created under the Nkwe mandate, implying that the turnaround time in service delivery needs to be swift and very responsive within the constraints of the resource envelope. He said government had to take measures in a bid to contain public spending within the limited financial resources, whilst ensuring that every Liswati was getting efficient service.
“Conversely, there was mounting pressure for increased government expenditure in the 2024/25 financial year due to expanding infrastructure needs, debt servicing and the implementation of new government policies.
This has seen the budget expenditures shooting up by 2 per cent of GDP compared to the 2023/24 fiscal year. In comparison, revenues grew by 1 per cent of GDP in the same period,” he said.
The minister said despite a challenging economic setting government remained steadfast in ensuring that the fiscus was steered towards a sustainable position and public debt maintained at sustainable levels.
He added that the implementation of fiscal measures and reforms in recent years proved to be difficult, but government had made good progress in the containment of expenditures and mobilisation of additional revenues.
He said significant progress continued to be realised in addressing the bottlenecks that impede and discourage the participation and attraction of high impact private sector investments into the economy.
“Government opted to be intentional with prioritisation of economic growth related projects. Government is thoughtful of the global crisis posed by climate change in deliberations aimed at strengthening response interventions to the threats of climate change within the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
This will include making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards climate-resilient development,” he said.
The minister added that the country had achieved a significant milestone in tax reform with the Eswatini Revenue Service's introduction of a new value added tax (VAT) system. This system was expected to bring increased efficiency and effectiveness in tax collection.
“Additionally, the introduction of a presumptive tax will make it easier for small business owners to meet their tax obligations, offering them more manageable repayment terms while enabling them to continue operating and contributing to the economic recovery.
Furthermore, the successful launch of the state-business relations programme is fostering greater ownership and active partnership between the government and the private sector, strengthening the role of business in driving economic growth,” he added.
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