Times Of Swaziland: PART OF SACU E10.4BN EXPECTED TODAY PART OF SACU E10.4BN EXPECTED TODAY ================================================================================ Stanley Khumalo and Mlondzi Nkambule on 04/04/2025 09:36:00 MBABANE – In order to grow our economy, and reach the targeted growth rate and create jobs, we need to have money freely circulating in the economy, says Business Eswatini (BE). BE’s Head of Trade and Commerce Musa Maseko said this in reaction to the pronouncement by the Minister for Finance, Neal Rijkenberg that the ministry anticipates receiving Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts today. The receipts to be apportioned to Eswatini are the first tranche of the E10.4 billion to be received by the country. This is a significant decline of approximately 20.4 per cent from the E13.06 billion received in the current financial year 2024/25, which was due to the hike in levies for importing certain vehicles, as well as from channelling fuel suppliers to import most of the commodity from South Africa instead of Mozambique. Budget SACU receipts usually finance more than 50 per cent of the national budget, which is used by government for the construction of roads, building hospitals, buying medication, paying grants and civil servants’ salaries, among many other things. Rijkenberg attributed the reduction in SACU receipts for this financial year to primarily lower-than-expected collections in the Common Revenue Pool (CRP) during the 2023/24 fiscal year. Despite the setback suffered by the country regarding the decline in SACU receipts, Rijkenberg said his ministry shall also receive E250 million from the SACU Stabilisation Fund which was created to ensure that there is money to cater for years of deficits. “This money will assist us in paying suppliers and paying salaries as well. We are also looking at positive economic growth this year which will assist in funding the budget,” Rijkenberg said. It is worth noting that the fund currently holds a balance of E2.47 billion. Some of this, he said, will be used in the 2025/2026 budget to maintain the stability of the fiscals. Rijkenberg said government remained committed to addressing SACU revenue volatility through initiatives like the Revenue Stabilisation Fund, which is designed to cushion the nation’s finances against such fluctuations, ensuring that the country can maintain fiscal stability. The minister said the country was also anticipating to have accessed E1.8 billion from the African Development Bank and the World Bank to settle arrears. He said government owed about E150 million to suppliers for invoices submitted after March 20, 2025. Meanwhile, BE’s Maseko appealed to government ministries and parastatals to submit their invoices to the Treasury Department for processing. He said their position on the matter of government arrears was clear and they were grateful to Rijkenberg on his drive to ensure that there are no service providers owed by the government. In this instance, he said: “We also have no reason to doubt that the minister will indeed settle the outstanding debts. However, we will reiterate our earlier pleas to the various government ministries and parastatals to submit their invoices to the Treasury Department for processing. We are at the start of the new financial year and what we have historically seen is that the previous year’s invoice will only be forwarded for payment now, which means any goods or services procured this year will only be paid in the next financial year.” Maseko said the crux of their plea is for businesses to start off the new government financial year with a clean slate and in that case most, if not all businesses, will be paid on time.In order to grow the economy to reach the targeted growth rate and create jobs, he said businesses need to have money freely circulating in the economy. He said: “The MSME survival rate will increase, non-performing loans in the financial sector will decrease and credit extended to the private sector will increase, only if the government departments and ministries work hand in hand with the minister for Finance in clearing the arrears.” Private He said it is the fervent hope of BE that 2025 is the last year they talk about long-standing payments due to the private sector. Maseko said they were willing and able to play their part and will actively work with the whole government to create an environment where they too have no outstanding debts. Worth noting is that when the minister announced the E13.06 billion receipts for last year, he mentioned that they would start ‘feeling it in their pockets’. This was because when compared to the 2023/2024 level, the SACU revenue for 2024/25 was to grow by 11.15 per cent. In the 2023/2024 financial year, the country’s SACU receipts were E11.75 billion and were 102 per cent higher than the E5.8 billion of 2022/2023. SACU consists of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini. All customs, excise and additional duties (trade taxes) collected in the SACU Common Customs Area are paid into the common revenue pool and shared among Member States. Member States’ share of the pool is disbursed or determined in accordance with the SACU agreement’s revenue-sharing formula. The current Revenue Sharing Formula has three components; namely, the Customs Component, Excise Component and the Development Component. The Customs share is allocated on the basis of each country’s share of intra-SACU imports. Some of the factors that had led to the increase were that Eswatini’s imports from SACU had increased by 25.24 per cent compared to the previous year. It was at that time that Rijkenberg announced that part of the receipts were to be directed to the Revenue Stabilisation Fund, which was established to reduce the country’s overreliance on SACU receipts. larger share of the SACU receipts has, in the past three quarters, been utilised to help government prioritise its responsibilities, which include rendering services across its various portfolios. It is a documented fact that government has recently invested a substantial portion of its resources into revitalising the public health sector. It is worth noting that government has fallen behind in payments to several service providers, including utility entities such as the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC), Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) and Eswatini Water Services Corporation (EWSC). Several ministries have been flagged in the Financial Audit Report on the Consolidated Government Accounts of the Kingdom of Eswatini for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, compiled by the Auditor General, Timothy Matsebula, for owing these State-owned enterprises (SOEs). Additional suppliers owed by government include those providing consumables and services through Microprojects under the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development.