By Lwazi Dlamini
A supplementary budget of E58 million has been approved by the House of Senate.
The supplementary budget was approved on Wednesday and it is for the year ending, March 31, 2025.
The Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg explained to the senators, that the purpose of the supplementary budget is to assist in the government needs for the remainder of the current financial year.
The supplementary budget appropriation bill, 2025 states that the “object of this bill is to appropriate supplementary amounts of money to meet additional financial requirements for the services of the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, for the year ending 31st March 2025,”
The supplementary budget amounts to E58 763, 373.
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Rijkenberg, when presenting the supplementary appropriation bill, said the government had faced hardship on the cash flow, as it did not have enough money to cater for all its needs.
The Minister thanked the senators for taking their time to approve the Supplementary Budget.
Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini thanked the Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg for having been able to work on the Supplementary Budget from time it was tabled in the upper chamber.
Dlamini said the budget was an amount that was not so substantial because it had to cater for the needs of the remainder of the current financial year.
“From the time you made it clear from the onset that you wanted to thoroughly scrutinize the budget,” said the Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini when thanking the senators for taking time to scrutinize the Supplementary Budget.
In the Supplementary budget, a sum of E629 951 will go to Internal Audit while a sum of E1 713 741 will go to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, E19 940 819 will be channeled to the Ministry of Public Service.
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The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology will receive E14 987 407, with E548 434 channeled to the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
The Ministry of Health will receive an additional E121 779 308 while the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs will receive E1 186 750.
The Anti-Corruption Commission will receive E519 416, the Judiciary will receive E1 720 535 with His Majesty’s Correctional Services receiving E38 679 248.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will receive an additional E32 566 254, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport will receive a sum of E288 889 007,
The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs will receive E337 877 while the Audit department will receive an additional E4 487 312.