PM PAINTS BLEAK PICTURE OF SWAZILAND’S ECONOMY

MBABANE – You might have thought that the economic crisis which the country is currently going through is being blown out of proportion but it is in fact a reality.

Prime Minister (PM) Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini has come out to confirm the dire state of affairs.
The man in command of the Swaziland Government said owing to a fiscal reliance on Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenue, which has fallen this year, government was faced with a challenging fiscal situation.

“While this has certainly affected our cash flow position this fiscal year, government is focused on exploring sources of financing, raising domestic revenue and prioritising expenditure that aligns with the nation’s development goals,” Dlamini said.
The PM said growth in the economy was impacted, given the current situation where the country underwent one of its worst droughts and agricultural production - the backbone of the economy - is at a record low.

He said it was not only production of rain fed crops (maize and cotton) that were affected but also irrigated crops like sugar cane, as water levels in dams were significantly low.
Dlamini said maize production declined by as much as 60 per cent to 33 460 metric tons in 2016, while cotton production fell below 200 metric tons.

He said sugar cane production was also projected to decline by about 20 per cent.
 “Because of this, inputs for several industries like food processing will also be cut short, in that way compounding the effect to pull down growth.
“Moreover, SACU receipts - the economy’s major source of revenue - are reduced significantly. This double whammy has, in turn, affected growth severely such that the economy may even slightly shrink.

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