By Lwazi Dlamini
The Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini has identified four key areas which need policy interventions to stimulate growth in the economy.
Central Bank Governor, Dr. Phil Mnisi, in his Annual Monetary Statement Policy delivered on Thursday at Royal Villas highlighted these four key areas: Unemployment reduction, Improving Education outcomes, Addressing the Health Crisis and Growth and Service Delivery.
“The 2024/25 budget signals an expansionary fiscal policy stance adopted by the government. A number of critical areas have been identified as requiring policy interventions in order to stimulate growth in the economy. With this budget, the Government plans to implement several initiatives to mitigate the socio-economic challenges the country is faced with,” Mnisi said.
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He then named the four key areas as follows:
1. Unemployment Reduction:
Wherein government seeks to integrate entrepreneurship with the mini-grid system through collaboration with SEDCO (Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund offering business training, coaching and mentorship) and Eswatini Livestock Value Chain Development Project, targeting to have 250 Youth owned businesses and 300 cattle and goat producers in the country, respectively.
2. Improve Education outcomes:
The government has allocated additional resources to convert temporary teaching positions to permanent positions to increase efficiencies in the student-to-teacher ratio.
3. Address the Health Crisis:
Where government intends to streamline the supply chain and transform the Central Medical Stores; expand the renal services to at least two more hospitals as well and continue to implement the policy of having a Health Facility within an 8km radius.
4. Growth and Service Delivery:
Government will continue with the provision of agricultural input-subsidy to farmers, construction of Mpakeni Dam which will provide water for irrigation and other developments, fund the Rural Development Fund and Micro Projects Community Development Fund, digitization of Tinkhundla Centres to ensure further decentralization of government services; and upgrade about 500km of road infrastructure throughout the four regions in the country.
The four key areas highlighted by the CBE Governor dovetail with the Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini’s remarks during the breakfast meeting with the Editor’s Forum at Mountain View International Hotel a week ago when the premier highlighted how the Government has put to the frontline the importance of growing the economy to afford financing the development goals.
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“The Ministry of Finance is working on a plan to wean the country from the over-dependence on SACU receipts. The country will continue to work harder to benefit from SACU, but such a benefit must come as a bonus to sovereign revenue. We are expecting that this plan will be completed and brought to Cabinet soon for approval and implementation. Excellent ideas have already been flaunted within Cabinet,” Dlamini said.
The Premier also stated that the Government has set a ten per cent growth for the economy for the next five years and the ambitious target has been shared with the business sector to stimulate the appetite for growth.
“To achieve this target, Government has already shifted the focus to invest in growth as opposed to the previously dominant practice of spending on consumption,” The Prime Minister added.