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SARFED CALLS FOR ROBUST BUDGET

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Mbabane - “We expect this year’s national budget to be extra ordinary.”

The budget must take into consideration a holistic, resilient and sustainable catalyst which will restore the competitiveness of the country for at least 10 years. This is a call from the Southern African Research Foundation for Economic Development (SARFED) ahead of Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg’s budget speech, which is tentatively set for tomorrow. 

SARFED Regional Coordinator George Choongwa stressed that the 2021 National Budget was serving as a critical stand point which will determine the next wave of the country’s economic variability, at least for the next decade.

“This is due to the fact that this year’s national budget plays a pivotal role of both interventional tool against the negative implications of COVID-19 crisis and the restoration of the economy at large in all timelines namely short, medium, and long-term basis,” said Choongwa.

SARFED stressed that with a proactive budgetary system in place, necessary precautions would be taken into consideration. This would involve the engagement of constant research and development activities in key areas such as agriculture and industrial competitiveness because such sectors did not only contribute greatly to the GDP of the country, but that it created employment.

“These sectors namely;agriculture and industrial sectors were a gateway to attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs) towards the country. The world economic trends suggest that Africa has been perceived as the most desired destination for eco-investment by many FDIs. This can be an opportunity for the country,” said SARFED.

Choongwa further said that they also expected government’s doubling effort in incentivising youth entrepreneurship, especially in the areas of rural entrepreneurship where these entrepreneurs would serve as both drivers for sustainable development through environmental management, as well as stimulating social and economic activities at the same time.

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