By Lwazi Dlamini
The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini is keeping its promise to the sustainability of the Revenue Stabilization Fund after depositing a sum of E375 million in April 2024.
The latest deposit was made after the SACU revenue was received and this was a full testimony to the Government’s pledge to add a total of E1.5 billion in the current 2024/2025 budget cycle. The pledge was made by the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg during his budget speech in February 2024.
The Revenue Stabilization Fund, which is meant to serve as a buffer considering the volatility of the SACU receipts, currently holds a sum of E1.28 billion.
This was revealed by the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) Governor, Dr. Phil Mnisi during the delivery of his Annual Monetary Policy Statement at Royal Villas on Thursday morning.
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“On the fiscal side, a key initiative developed by Government in collaboration with the Bank is the establishment of the Revenue Stabilization Fund, which is meant to serve as a buffer considering the volatility of SACU receipts.
This Fund currently holds E1.28 billion. The Government has committed to adding a total of E1.5 billion in the current 2024/25 budget cycle. Already, E375 million was deposited into the Fund in April 2024 when SACU revenue was received,” the Governor said.
Coming to public debt, the Governor said the total public debt stood at E34.4 billion as of the end of March 2024, translating to an equivalent of 37.1% of GDP, and this indicates a growth of 4.2% from E33.0 billion recorded in March 2023.
“The growth can be attributed to a continued exercise by the Government to issue Securities, while external debt remained almost stationary. At the end of April 2024, total public debt stood at E33.3 billion, an equivalent of 36.0% of GDP,” he added.
Mnisi stated that the Central Bank actively participated in the domestic market by purchasing foreign currency acquired through export proceeds from the local banks in an endeavour to build reserves and to provide a buffer against the effects of net outflows.
“Since the inception of the strategic initiative to build up foreign reserves, an equivalent of E24.6 billion has been settled as at 31 May 2024. The total value of trades conducted over the financial year 2023/2024 amounted to E6.47 billion,” he added.
The Governor said the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Listing process of a ZAR4 billion programme has been completed.
He said the first issuance under this programme was undertaken in May 2024 and a total of R400 million was raised for a period of 3 years at a yield of 11.875% per annum maturing on 8 May 2027.
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“Subsequent to the first issuance, a ‘ringing of the bell’ ceremony was held at the JSE to formally introduce the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini as a sovereign borrower in the South African market,” he said.
On the developments in the external sector, Mnisi said preliminary data shows that Eswatini’s balance of payments recorded a surplus of E2.0 billion in 2023, following a revised deficit of E2.1 billion in the previous year.
“In 2023, Eswatini recorded a positive trade balance of E3.1 billion. The balance reflects a significant increase of more than double the trade surplus recorded in 2022,
with total exports growing by 12.5% year-on-year to E37.5 billion and imports growing at a slower pace of 6.8% to E34.4 billion,” he noted.
