FISCAL CHALLENGE A THREAT TO ESWATINI’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

MBABANE – Bearing in mind both internal and external economic pressures the country has been faced with in the past three years, the government of Eswatini should consider restructuring its financing options.

This should be done to cut down recurrent expenditure by doubling its revenue.
The Southern African Economic Research Foundation (SARFED) Regional Coordinator George Choongwa has advised that the country would need the consideration of both quick ‘fix strategies’ as means of recovering a down headed economy for recovery purposes at the same time stimulating investment in future growth for sustainable purposes.

He said based on three-year data comparisons of 2015 to 2017, the country’s public debt has been on the rise despite few signs of downcast fluctuations especially between 2016 and 2017.

“These fluctuations in public debts have the potential to send adverse effect to sustainable economic development in the country especially on the trade and investment portfolios,” said Choongwa.
Scenario analysis 

The country reached a fiscal deficit of 7.7 per cent of GDP in 2016 and later increased to 8.7 per cent of GDP in 2017 subsequently which was about E 4.76 billion.
However, due to limited financing options the, the country’s fiscal deficit has continued to be financed both by accumulation of arrears as well as foreign currency reserves mainly the receipts from the Southern African Custom Union (SACU).

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