SD BORROWS ABOUT E1.9BN IN 2 WEEKS

LOBAMBA – The country has been plunged into further debt by Members of Parliament (MPs).

This is after the MPs yesterday approved four other loans of about E662 million. The loans accompany another of E202 million which was approved by the legislators towards the construction of the National Referral Hospital Project, which is expected to be at Elangeni in Lobamba.

The latest loans according to Minister of Finance Martin Dlamini who motivated them, would amount to US$51 million. This means that within two weeks, the country has borrowed about E1.9 billion after it borrowed about E1.2 billion for the construction of a five star hotel and the balance being for the referral hospital and LUSIP II Project. LUSIP is the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project.
The minister informed the MPs that the country’s Domestic debt now stood at E5.7 billion while the External Debt now stood at E4.4 billion, which totalled E10.1 billion.

Dlamini allayed fears by MPs that the manner in which the country was borrowing would land the kingdom in a similar situation as Greece as the legislators said they were alarmed by the rate at which the country was borrowing. “We have never defaulted and we cannot be like Greece because we prioritise paying our external debts and paying salaries,” said Dlamini.

The minister said the country would only be in trouble if the percentage would reach 35 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but it currently stands at around 18 per cent.  However, several MPs had reservations about the non-seemingly ending loans.

Lugongolweni MP Joseph Souza said he was particularly disturbed that there was going to be another referral hospital when government had failed to complete the Lubombo Referral Hospital. He said government was also failing to even pay local suppliers yet it was going for more loans.

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