GOVT’S EMPTY PROMISES TO IMF EXPOSED

MBABANE – Government’s empty promises to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in relation to the recently implemented salary review for civil servants have been exposed.

It has since surfaced that government made an undertaking to the IMF that, due to the country’s precarious fiscal position, it would postpone the implementation of the salary review exercise for civil servants, but only effect a cost of living adjustment.
However, government went against this undertaking made to the IMF and implemented the salary review after signing a collective agreement with public sector associations.

Soon after the release of Establishment Circular No: 1 of 2016 in July, which effected the salary review, the Prime Minister publicly admitted that the IMF would not be pleased with the implementation of the review.

This was during his breakfast meeting with editors who had asked him what the E850 million plus used to finance the salary review exercise would mean to the wage bill of the civil service and how international partners would view it.
In vernacular, Dlamini responded and said: “Sitocabana ne IMF.”

Dlamini told the editors that the IMF would not be pleased with the salary review because it had wanted government to reduce the size of the civil service and, therefore, reduce the wage bill but instead, government had done the direct opposite by increasing it.  It turns out the PM was very right.

Responding to questions from this newspaper, the spokesperson of the IMF said in the December 2015 economic assessment of Swaziland, the IMF welcomed the country’s intentions to purse fiscal consolidation starting the fiscal year 2016/17.

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