Times Of Swaziland: 2024 BUDGET SHOULD REFLECT SOES RESTRUCTURE PLAN

2024 BUDGET SHOULD REFLECT SOES RESTRUCTURE PLAN
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Nhlanganiso Mkhonta on 19/02/2024 08:16:00


MBABANE – Ahead of the budget speech this Friday, economists have weighed in
their expectations and key focus areas they believe should take priority.
One of the local economists said the upcoming budget speech should be in line
with the Speech from Throne and submissions during the Sibaya People’s
Parliament. The economist said they expect Minister of Finance Neal
Rijkenberg’s budget speech to reflect government’s plan to restructure State
-owned enterprises (SOEs) to reduce reliance on public funding and support
private sector led growth to which is key to create employment opportunities.
The minister is set to deliver the 2024 budget speech this Friday. Speaking to
the Times Business Desk, the economist said government should allocate
significant resources towards youth focused business development initiatives to
support small medium enterprises (SME) and start-ups.
Stabilisation
She said with the anticipated improvements in SACU receipts and the
establishment of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Revenue Stabilisation
fund, it was expected that public debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio to
decline. “We expect the budget to prioritise the heavily disadvantaged members
of society by increasing social grants to OVCs, elderly and disabled,” said
the economist. She added that they would like to see the budget supporting the
‘nkwe’ approach ordered by His Majesty during the 12th Parliament opening
through significant allocations towards local energy generation projects.
“This is key to put the concerns of a majority of citizens at ease on
electricity access post 2025,” said the economist. The economist added that
they were expecting government to establish a grant for the unemployed, to
address the high levels of youth unemployment rate in the kingdom. “The rising
youth unemployment rate is detrimental to our society,” she said.
The economist highlighted that Eswatini was signatory to a number of trade
agreements and His Majesty has called upon businesses to take advantage of the
market access opportunities presented by these trade agreements. We expect the
minister to prioritise interventions to support  the private sector to take
advantage of these trade agreements. We have seen in developed countries’
government heavily funding the growth of private businesses. Meanwhile,
Economist Thembinkosi Dube shared the same sentiments, about the speech aligning
to the King’s speech delivered during the Opening Session of the 12th
Parliament. Dube said he was expecting an improved budget for agriculture, as
such was among the key issues in the King’s speech. He said another prominent
issue was the fight against corruption and job creation.
Budget
He said on the job creation, it was expected that the minister would allocate
improved budget for entrepreneurship programmers like the Regional Development
Fund (RDF) and the Youth Revolving Fund (RDF). Dube also mentioned that
government should add more on the education sector.