GOVT NON-PAYMENT OF SUPPLIERS LAMBASTED

EZULWINI – Government has been strongly accused of the collapse of a number of businesses through not paying its arrears on time.

Federation of Swaziland Employers and Chamber of Commerce (FSE&CC) Andrew le Roux said the prolonged periods of non-payments to suppliers were highly detrimental to the operations of businesses in the kingdom.

“The non-payment of businesses for up to 18 to 24 months is now becoming a serious cause.
“More businesses are collapsing as a result of non-payment and this situation needs to be addressed with immediate effect,” said le Roux.

Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini said government arrears were projected to reach E3 billion by the end of the 2017/18 financial year.
He said in an effort to clear the arrears, government introduced two new instruments that were offered to the market in 2016/17 and 2017/18, namely, the infrastructure bond and the supplier’s bond.

Dlamini said from these instruments, government was able to raise E830 million, which was utilised to pay some suppliers.
However, he said this amount was not sufficient to clear the stock of arrears.
“Being mindful of the stock of arrears accumulated in the financial year 2017/18, I must make mention that government has endeavoured to provide for the most critical expenditure items.

“This has made it possible to reduce the financing shortfall to manageable levels. The government will also take additional measures to reduce the accumulation of arrears,” said Dlamini.

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